And The Sword
by snowtigerfire
Summary: Another passenger was on the Hunter-Grazner. Please Read/Review! **Complete!!**
1. Introducing Miss Bennet

I don't own any Pitch Black characters, don't hurt me! Believe me, it DOES have something to do with Pitch Black. My first fanfiction so please tell me what you think!  
  
Chapter One  
  
"You do understand, Miss Bennet, that we still need your signature on the consent forms in order to go ahead with any of the proceedings? This is the final step." The coldly impersonal doctor stared at her impatiently.  
  
"I understand.it's just.it's a big decision to make, you know?"  
  
"The bulk of the decision has been made already. The agreement is one year in our care, with physical fitness routines, and at the end of that your time period in the experiment, for the sum of four hundred thousand dollars. Yesterday you had agreed to it for sure, and now you're having second thoughts? There IS a time issue, Miss Bennet, there are other applicants."  
  
She looked down. The money was so tempting, but it was just so risky. She was thousands of dollars in debt, and no specific timeline to set, she could take the time off. But.but nothing. She had already decided to do it.her family didn't know how much money she owed.she needed it. She was palming it off as a year abroad.  
  
"I.I'll do it."  
  
"Then please sign here, here, and here at the x's." He shoved the paper across the table to her.  
  
She picked up the pen and signed. Alexandra Bennet. Her mother always thought it was a beautiful name.  
  
One year later.  
  
She was nervous, but ready. She'd kept up on her studies, sort of. Plus she had turned herself into quite a powerhouse, she guiltily admitted to herself. Turns out that the "physical fitness training" had included all sorts of martial arts, so she had learned all sorts of styles and all different sorts of weapons. Just to tell herself she could do it. Basically, after she learned the basic martial arts she was told by the company that she could learn whatever she wanted. She and the other subject, Diane, had often wondered why they were learning all of it but the lab people just said it was to put them in peak physical condition. She and Diane, a forty year old nutritionist, had become very close in the past year. It was Diane who had finally persuaded Alex to tell her loved ones what was actually going on.that she would be put into an experimental cryo- freeze tube for a month as a human experiment. Experimental.Alex shuddered. She heard herself repeating what the doctors initially told her.that several trials with chimpanzees had been extremely successful, but they would be the first human subjects. They had reassured her that it was very, very safe with no problems.  
  
Four hundred thousand.tax free.four hundred thousand.  
  
She took a deep breath and stepped into the prep room. It took a short twenty minutes to get into her cryosuit, and then she passed through the door into the actual cryofreeze room. Diane looked up and grinned at her. "We'll be okay, hon!" she shouted over the whirr and gave her a thumbs up. Alex smiled back and stepped into the tube.  
  
The doctor stepped in front of her to do last-minute checks. "Everything feeling okay?" She nodded. "Good". He put the equipment on which would monitor her vital signs, and put the restraints in place. "See you in a month, Miss Bennet."  
  
The door started to close and the restraints tightened around her wrists and body. She could still see across the room to where the same was happening to Diane. The tube closed. The last thing she heard was the hiss of gas, and everything froze.  
  
Cold.so cold.  
  
Her eyes didn't want to open.the light hurt them.she was lying on a metal table underneath a bright light. Four people in blue coats stood around her, watching her slowly wake up. She moaned as she felt heat seeping into her body from the cloth wrapped around her. She tried to clear her throat to speak but it was so dry. She tried to sit up but lacked the energy.a woman in a blue coat helped her to sit up. When Alex motioned for a drink, the woman quickly poured water from a pitcher and gave it to her, smiling and said, "Welcome back, Alexandra Bennet."  
  
Alex glanced around the room. It was not the same room that the cryotubes were in.in fact there was equipment in here she had never seen before. It looked really high-tech. How interesting. She sipped the water.it felt good to her parched throat. The blanket was making her feel too warm, and she felt like she had more energy, so she pushed it off and swung her legs off the table as she sat up. That small movement made her head swim. She felt the beginnings of a headache coming on.hope she was allowed aspirin.  
  
She looked down at her body, and saw that she was dressed in some sort of weird jumpsuit. Odd. Why did everything look so different?? Her thoughts went to her friend. "Where's Diane? How is she?" she asked.  
  
The woman who had helped her up answered "Who?"  
  
A bad feeling settled in her stomach. "Diane! The co-subject! Come on, guys, it's only been a month! What about Doctor Avery? He was my coordinator." What was going on?? Why hadn't she seen them before around the lab? Their blank faces confirmed that they didn't know who Diane was. Suddenly realization dawned on the woman's face. She whispered to one of the other doctors, "What was the name of the second prototype?" "Diane Norton" he answered.  
  
"What do you mean, prototype?" Alex interrupted, "There hasn't been any others, has there?" She was getting frantic, besides being disoriented from her awakening. Why couldn't they tell her anything?  
  
"Miss Bennet," began the man in glasses, "I'm afraid there have been.'others' as you put it. Quite a few. You see, the company you were a subject for developed into the primary cryofreeze institute in the system, CryoGen. With your help, we have been able to develop the premier cryofreeze techniques used in all major spacecraft, a great benefit to society and exploration." He paused, looking pleased with himself.  
  
Alex was dumbfounded. "What do you mean, developed? It's been a month, right? A month?" She glaced around at them in turn. All of the doctors looked worried, even the nice woman. Slowly something dawned on Alex. Why everything was so different. "What.what's the date?"  
  
"Now Miss Bennet, it's important to stress that."  
  
"WHAT IS THE DATE?"  
  
The woman sighed. "It's been awhile."  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Alex wiped the tears from her face as she looked at the picture of her family one last time, and then torched it with a lighter. Dead. All dead. They never knew what happened to me because I just disappeared, she thought. The picture of her fiancee was harder to destroy.but then again he was harder to part with. She had never bothered trying to look up any possible relatives, it would be too difficult to explain things. Those CryoGen bastards had really fucked up her life.what was left of it.  
  
This was the last time. The last time she would feel anything. Ever since she.got out, she had episodes of extraordinary bursts of sadness, but other than that, she was stone.  
  
They had given her back her small locker of personal items that was attached to the cryotube. They had tricked her, but didn't admit it. Our mistake, they had said, and written her a check for four hundred thousand. She had definitely paid the price for it. It was worth quite a lot, actually, the economy had a few ups and downs in the last couple hundred years. She actually smiled at the woman who she had given a black eye before security restrained her that day. There was a sort of crash course for two hours on the state of the world.worlds, now, and then she got booted into the street. They were a multitrillion company and didn't give a shit about her, even though she made them who they were. Fuckers.  
  
She had spent some of the money on weapons and gadgets she had learned about on the streets. She'd even managed to find a little something that nobody had even seen in a long time. A sword. She found it in a seedy antiques store, but preserved in some storage container so it was absolutely perfect. Before she went into the tube, she had out of sheer curiosity asked to be instructed with a blade. Just for kicks, she said. Now it was her guarantee that nobody messed with her, ever since the idiot who thought that because she was a woman he could do whatever he wanted. Alex and the sword. Nothing else mattered and she had no one, but that sword. The money put her up in a small cubicle for awhile, but she got tired of living on that planet. A chunk of credits went towards the ticket out of here to wherever. It meant another sleep in the cryotube, yes, but then again she didn't care and knew they already worked with her. What was the ship's name? She checked the ticket.Ah, yes, Hunter-Gratzner. On the way to some godforsaken rock that hopefully she could start a new life in. Huh. New Mecca.bullshit. Maybe she could make it all "new". She was somewhat wealthy but you didn't spread that around on the planet she was at now. Actually, fool herself she might, but she had no plan. She just didn't care. Everything she knew and loved was gone forever.  
  
As the last of the photos burned, she packed up her bag and looked around her small cubicle. "Well, here we go.".  
  
A few hours later, as she boarded the ship to the cryofreeze deck, she looked around at some of the other passengers. All probably had somebody out there somewhere. But she was alone, and didn't need anyone. The short time she had spent in the streets had hardened her in her grief, and she was tough as nails. She wore all black, cut her black hair short, and hung around at night. Didn't hesitate to use her training either. She had her reputation to keep up, and common street thugs stayed away from her after a few more incidents with her unknown surprise. She had commandeered a few smaller weapons as well, to accentuate the martial arts skills she had learned for the "physical fitness" part of her "experiment", for which she had maintained her physique through the freeze. CryoGen. But she didn't think about them anymore.even a desperate thirst for revenge had been quenched once she saw how futile it was going to be. No emotion anymore. She was stone cold.  
  
Interesting assortment of passengers. Colonists, techs, even an escaped convict. She smiled without humor as she looked around. Some of them were talking amongst themselves as they prepared for the deep freeze. Her angry stare and dangerous demeanor got them to stay the hell away, where she liked them. She didn't really like anyone. She sighed as she was logged into the computer for the tubes. There was a fluttering feeling in her stomach. The computer screen said "Bennet, Alexandra". She stepped into the tube.and quelled the rising fear of it. Would she get out on time or waste another two hundred years? Poor Alex. Forget about it, just do it. She relaxed and felt the restraints tighten, which caused her heart to beat faster and faster. But no. No emotion. She felt the thrusters begin underneath her, making the entire ship vibrate as the rest of the passengers hastily stepped into their own cryotubes. This one was definitely more comfortable than the last. She heard a hissing noise coming from behind her and closed her eyes. 


	2. Pleased to meet you

Notes: Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm sorry this took so long but I wanted to make it good. Please review with suggestions!!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
She awoke from the familiar cold feeling. She was still in the tube. But something was wrong.it was shaking and dark.lights flashing.and then everything crashed and she blacked out.  
  
When she woke up again, she was lying on her side. After a moment of confusion, it struck her. Why wasn't the tube upright? The tube was supposed to be open when she was awake. The tube wasn't even OPEN! Shit, something must have happened.WHY did humans decide that space travel was a good idea? and of all times to get claustrophobic. She started pounding on the tube and screaming.fuck her oxygen, she needed someone to let her out. She was going to die in here! Her heart pounded and she felt like she would never get out this time. A small voice inside her kept whispering "you'd get to see them again".but she had to keep on, even though she had nothing to live for. That's how it worked. After what seemed like hours, she saw through the dusty front of the tube a woman with long hair, trying to pry it open. As she finally did the door popped open and Alex rolled out, coughing. The woman put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Name's Shazza, you okay?"  
  
Alex whirled her head around with wild eyes. "Don't touch me!" She ripped out of the woman's tentative grasp and struggled to stand up, but there was debris everywhere. She settled for a crouch where she had fallen out, as Shazza backed away. Alex was anything but calm, her heart pounding with how close she might have come to another unplanned stay in a cryotube. Looking around warily, she saw that the ship had been torn apart! An intense light came from the gaping hole where the rows of cryotubes had stood. As she straightened, she met the woman's eyes with her own green ones. "Sorry about that." Alex forced herself to breathe deeply and calm down. The tough girl she was supposed to be wouldn't lose it over being stuck in a cryotube. Alexandra would have. She brushed her clothes off, there was dust everywhere "Alex. Thanks." She took another calming deep breath. "What the fuck happened?"  
  
The woman moved on to the next tube. "I don't know, but here we are, crash landed on some rock. Got to try to get the others out." She lit up a blowtorch that a large dark-skinned man gave her and started in on the tube. They got it open and a thin boy fell out. "So, I guess something went wrong?" he said. No shit.  
  
Then they heard a man's scream from up near the flight deck. "Get it outta me!" The group that had formed rushed towards it, and as Alex slowly walked over she saw a blonde woman in a pilot's uniform bending over another man who had a spike straight through his chest, near the heart. She went to pull it out and he screamed again, "Don't you touch it! Don't you touch that handle Fry!". Shocked, Shazza put in, "It's too close to his heart!" The blonde looked around, striken, and shouted "There's some anesthophine in the medlock in the back of the cabin!" But the back of the cabin had been totally blown away. "Not anymore there's not" muttered a thin man with glasses. All of them were silent. Alex looked around at them all. The man was going to die.  
  
"Get out of here. Everyone. Get out of here." the blonde said. Alex turned and walked away, somehow knowing what the woman, "Fry", was going to do. The others slowly backed away as well. There was no way he could have lived through anything they could do for him. That woman made a hard choice.but it's not like there was another option. Everyone dies. It's just a matter of time. That's why you don't care about people, because they leave. With that thought, Alex walked over to her cryotube where her items were stashed in her personal locker. Unlocking the case with her thumbprint, she gazed at the contents. The familiar pieces gave her some comfort. They were all she had for her security. However, she decided to find out the lay of the land before getting them all out, so she popped two knifes into her boots and one in her arm sheath for throwing if she had to. It never hurt to be extra cautious, that she had learned the hard way. Alex sighed, and made her way over to the hole in the side of the ship. The sword would come later.  
  
Ugh. Alex was temporarily blinded by the intense sunlight as she exited the pitiful remnants of the ship. All of her past twelve months had been spent on a planet where the sun came out infrequently, sort of like Alaska in the wintertime. Huh, she thought, squinting, bet nobody here even remembers Alaska. Alaska.but that was part of the life she left behind. And now she just felt the sun beating down on her. Well.at least she'd get a bit of a tan on her pasty white skin. Too little sun exposure on the last planet, as she went out only when it was dark. Unfortunately, the only things she had to wear were black. Black jumpsuit and vest, even black boots. That made it a little harder to think about something positive. The desolate landscape was nothing but sand and rock. Was there nothing alive on this planet?  
  
A few other passengers stumbled out onto the sand, and some of the few survivors had already tried climbing up to stand on top of the ship. Alex shrugged and picked her way up. Must be low oxygen or something in this atmosphere, she thought, as she was huffing and puffing as if she'd just finished an hour of sparring with Diane. Diane. Don't think about her. No friends. No one. That way it doesn't hurt. As she reached the top of the ship, she gasped. "Holy Mother," she gaped as she saw the wreckage from the once-enormous Hunter-Grazner stretched out over a few miles. Black smoke rose from the twisted metal. Damn, was she lucky to have survived. As she was staring at it, Fry came up behind her. As she looked out over the wreckage herself, Shazza's companion Zeke blurted out what all of them were thinking. "What the bloody 'ell happened?!"  
  
Fry explained what it might have been, a rogue comet or a meteor shower. Alex remembered how she looked for Halley's comet with her father when she was very, very young. It didn't pain her any more. She was stone. All of the rest thanked fry for saving their lives, and Alex muttered a "Yeah, thanks." Yet Alex noticed Fry's face had an odd look of bewilderment or self-loathing on it. Alex shrugged to herself and put out her hand. "Alex," she said. But Fry still looked surprised by something.did they shake hands here? After a second, though, she took it weakly, and answered, "Carolyn Fry."  
  
The others followed suit and introduced themselves to her. The big blonde guy stepped forward and said, "Name's Johns. I think you should all know about the prisoner I was transporting. His name is Riddick." 


	3. Thank you but no thank you

Notes: Here's the next Chapter for you, please review to tell me what you think!  
  
Chapter 4  
  
After the initial consternation, Johns took Carolyn into the remainder of the cargo hold where he'd handcuffed this Riddick, the escaped convict, to a support beam. Alex followed them, wanting to see a glimpse of him. He was a big man, shaved head with a blindfold and a bit between his teeth. His arms, heavily muscled, were held behind him at an angle that looked uncomfortable. He somehow emitted the same feeling Alex had when she saw a big cat in the zoo, that long time ago. Captured, but always in readiness. Alex shivered unconsciously. This man was a killer, Johns said. A safe twenty meters away, Carolyn and Johns were discussing what to do with him.  
  
"So, do we just keep him locked up forever?" Carolyn said, arms folded.  
  
"Well, that'd be my choice," Johns retorted.  
  
Carolyn whispered, "Is he really that dangerous?" Did Alex see the chained man's head move a little?  
  
"Only around humans" Johns chucked humorlessly  
  
Alex found her voice. "So you caught him, then? Taking him back to prison?"  
  
Johns looked over at her, noticed her knives, and smirked. "Yeah, I did. Took awhile and went far, but I got him."  
  
How dare he smirk at her weapons! "All by yourself?" Alex said dryly, raising one eyebrow.  
  
Johns hardened his gaze. Maybe he had underestimated her a wee bit. "Yeah." He turned to Carolyn, placing his hand on his hip. No, not his hip. By where his kidneys were, on his back. He seemed to rest his hand there, feeling something. "Anyways." He looked back at Riddick one last time. "Let's see what we got in terms of cargo"  
  
Following Johns and Carolyn as they picked their way over to where the others were, Alex thought about being captive, being in a cage. Perhaps she shared that with this Riddick guy, that she had been captive but without knowing for so many years. She thought of those bastards who did it to her, smiling smugly in their corporate offices, making millions and ruining the life of one "unimportant" person. The thought gave her steel, strengthened the walls. It was easier to sustain them when she was alone, but now.now that she had to be with only a few people. Things would be harder to hide. Alex felt for her arm knife, took a breath, and her eyes became green ice. Fuck Johns. She had a bad feeling about him, something that wasn't entirely honest. She'd give him one more chance. Just in case though, she might want to think about getting that sword of hers.  
  
As they descended into the darker hold, she noticed the skinny guy, Paris, dragging out of all things an Egyptian sarcophagus. Alex had to restrain herself from running over to see it better. Egyptian lore had been one of her passions, a hobby, really. As she slowly walked over to get a better look, Paris started complaining about how everything had shifted.  
  
"Whole bloody container's upside down it's all topsy turvy," he said to the kid, Jack, and Shazza and Zeke, who had gathered around him. He undid a chain that held the sarcophagus together to reveal a stash of liquor and a few chests hidden inside. He lifted one of the bottles, "Thank goodness it's not a total loss," he said, smiling at everyone. When everyone started helping themselves, he got flustered and started demanding receipts for "his own private stuff", but come on, they were stranded on a desert planet, the least he could do was share. Alex reached in and grabbed one, looked it over, then took a swig. Ugh. She had never liked alcohol even before she was a popsicle, and afterwards she could never risk dulling her abilities to fall prey to some street tough. But a little sip would wet her mouth, just a bit. She tossed it back to Paris.  
  
"Thanks. Egyptian, about.Seti's time?" Alex questioned, gesturing at the sarcophagus.  
  
Paris' eyes widened. "Yes, that's correct, how did you.?" he trailed off. Alex just smiled. She always prided herself on being able to judge the time periods. Then she caught herself. Don't give too much away, she told herself.  
  
Carolyn swung the flashlight up to an upper corner, where Imam and his followers were gathered. Even though she offered it to them, he refused, saying they couldn't, especially while on hajj. The word caught at Alex, as she dimly remembered some of the concepts of Islam. So the world religions did survive, she thought. No matter, she already knew that if there was a God, he hadn't been seen in her company for the past few hundred years.  
  
Paris closed the sarcophagus and started to drag it out of the ship, while the others rested a bit in the shade of the ship's interior, only slightly cooler than the outside. That beating sun was awful, she thought. Especially for someone unused to it like she was. Too bad it wasn't dark. Maybe it'd be soon, then they could do something. For now, the meager band moved as a unit outside, to take a look around. Johns strode off by himself towards the other large half of the ship nearby, where Riddick was chained. To check on him, Alex supposed. They were all pretty pitiful, really, and only had each other. Who knows when they would get off of this planet, if it even had life anywhere on its desolate surface.  
  
Alex put her hand to her eyes and scanned the horizon, which stretched endlessly to nothingness in one direction, and in another there seemed to be large conical mounds, somewhat like termite nests. Termites here? But there didn't seem to be any insects flying or crawling around. In another direction there stretched a small mountain range. Perhaps in one of these directions they would find the water that Imam was so confident in.  
  
As she stood to survey the landscape, Paris walked up to her. "Want some of this? I figure might as well share as we're all in the same boat anyways," he said as he offered one of the bottles to her. "How did you know the age on that sarcophagus? I've never met anyone but a few who could, they're so rare anyhow. And especially not a." he looked at her outfit nervously, eyes lingering on the knives, "person in your profession."  
  
"A person in my profession?" Alex asked, confused. Suddenly it dawned on her, he must think she was a muscle-for-hire, carrying all that weaponry. A mercenary of some sort, she had heard talk of the widespread use of mercenaries now, as it was a little wilder of a scene on a lot of the planets. She put up a hand to refuse the drink. "No, no, I'm just a person traveling my way with a little.protection. And about the dating, well, let's just say it used to be a hobby." A few hundred years ago, she silently added.  
  
"Ah, well.well done. Sure you don't want any?" Alex shook her head. Suddenly they both looked up as Johns came running out of the ship, towards the mountain range. Alex and Paris looked at each other, confused. Johns slowed, looking at the sand at his feet. About a half mile from the ship wreckage, he kneeled and picked something up from the sand. Alex couldn't tell what it was, but it made Johns get up and look around. As he turned towards them, Alex drew in her breath. It was the bit that was in Riddick's mouth. Johns threw it on the ground and stood up, jogging back towards the ship. Alex's heart pounded, realizing that the convict had escaped. The caged lion was on its way. Somehow, Alex wasn't surprised.  
  
As Johns returned, Carolyn called out to him, "What is it?"  
  
"Riddick's escaped," he replied, slightly out of breath, as he walked into the cargo hold.  
  
"Oh shit, ohhhhh shit" said Jack. Everyone else looked striken. Carolyn, then Alex, then the rest of them followed Johns into the cargo hold. As Johns went towards his locker and pulled out a case, Alex went to hers.  
  
She slid the large case onto a piece of rubble to hold it, then used the thumbprint identification to open it and reveal the blades. Everything was calm in the gleaming metal of the sword. It was a double blade with a Chinese design on the flat of it, but only about 3 feet long. The scabbard, antique rosewood, lay next to it, attached to the sword belt, which was made of a plain black leather band that would allow the sword to rest comfortably at her right hip. Alex sighed, smiled, then picked up the sword, then grasped it with both hands to hold the blade perpendicular to the ground in a sort of salute. It was the only thing besides herself that she could depend on, and it was almost like a living entity. She was glad that the long period in transit had not moved anything else in the case. With regret she sheathed the blade, then removed the belt from her case and buckled it on. She decided to take the extra knife for the sheath at her back, and then, feeling generous, she picked up the least well-made dagger to give to someone else. This was, after all, a killer that they were dealing with. She'd hate to see one of the others get killed without arms. Maybe she'd give it to the kid. He reminded her of someone, perhaps one of her cousins, but then with a touch to the sword she banished that thought from her mind. She didn't need the baggage, just to be cool, cold metal.  
  
Alex closed the case and locked it, then placed it back in the locker. She'd come back for it eventually, and nothing that she absolutely needed was in it. The others were gathering on the bridge, she heard them, so she walked up. As the others noticed her, most of them raised eyebrows at her new addition.  
  
"Yes?" she asked them, mostly eyeing Johns. Most of them looked away or at each other.  
  
Paris, who was holding what looked to be some aboriginal spears, said, "Ah, well I guess you won't be needing one of these," and added a cheeky sort of grin.  
  
Jack came up to her, staring at the sword. "Wow, that is so cool, can I see it?" The kid sort of had an idolizing look in his eyes.  
  
Just as Alex was about to tell the kid that it wasn't exactly show and tell, "You sure that carving knife won't get in the way?" came a drawl from Johns.  
  
Alex looked down at what he carried, a large semi-automatic looking gun. She hated guns. She smiled sweetly and said "Guns run out of bullets. I prefer my carving knife, thank you." 


	4. Here we all are

Notes: You wanted him, so here he is. The entrance of the man himself, Richard B Riddick.Oh, and I know absolutely nothing about real swordplay so don't get mad at me for making things up.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"So what's the plan then?" Alex asked the assembly, each of which carried some sort of weapon. All the kid had was a boomerang.  
  
Carolyn stepped forward. "We go armed, but we'll look for water first. Johns will go with some of us, the rest will stay here. Shazza and Zeke found a way to make oxygen hookups out of spare parts, and I suggest that we go outside to keep some sort of a lookout instead of being in here." The rest of them nodded and gathered up the parts to move outside. As Jack passed by Alex, Alex grabbed him by the shoulder and bent down face to face with him.  
  
"You'll need more than that stick. Here." And with that Alex brought the knife in between them so Jack could see it. The kid's eyes widened, then he slowly, almost reverently reached out to it. "Go on, take it," Alex said, and he did. Alex looked into Jack's brown eyes unflinchingly. "Don't use it unless you really need to. It's not a toy. Just like this," and she touched the sword, "is not a toy. You got me?" Jack nodded.  
  
Suddenly Alex realized, that in the way Jack held himself, and something in his eyes, that he was not a he. He was a she. Now it was Alex's turn for eyes to widen. She bent down until she was able to whisper in Jack's ear.  
  
"Don't worry, either, about your little secret. I won't tell. You have your reasons" And I have mine, she mentally added. She straightened, and then uncharacteristically her face broke into a real, but sad smile. Jack looked confused for a moment, then it dawned on her what Alex was talking about. Jack looked about to run for a split second, then she too smiled, nervously.  
  
"Thanks. I.thanks," she mumbled, then ran outside.  
  
Don't give in, a voice in Alex's head said. Remember, they'll all leave, or die. Attachment leads to pain. But somehow, Alex felt that there was a part of her that wanted to be in this band. Or at least a few parts of it. She'd watch it though. Alex looked around at the interior, then went outside as well. She joined Carolyn in leaning against the side of the ship in the beating sun. She admired Carolyn, because in the short time since her breakdown in the cockpit, Alex saw Carolyn shaping into the leader they needed. Alex sighed, and looked up at the sky again. At least nightfall would be cooler. As Carolyn started to get everyone going to look for water, Paris came running up, saying, "Excuse me, I think you should see this."  
  
The group followed him as as they turned the corner around the ship, they saw what caused the commotion. A third, blue sun. As one set, the other rose. Fuck. There would be no nightfall. Imam and his "son" said it was a good sign, blue sun, blue water. Zeke broke in with, "Ever wonder why I'm an atheist?", at which Alex gave a short chuckle.  
  
Johns pointed out that was the way Riddick had gone, even though he threw his restraints the other way. They decided to have Paris, Zeke, Shazza, Jack, and Alex stay at the ship, while Imam and company, Carolyn, and Johns would search for water.  
  
After they left, Paris set up ship with a parsol, a cigar, and some wine on top of the ship. Zeke decided it fell on him to bury the dead. That is, the recognizable parts. Alex wanted nothing to do with the dead. Everyone died. Better to just leave them, and the memories. She could feel it rising up against the walls, the feelings she had when she realized that everything she knew was gone, everyone she loved was dead, on came the feelings of utter despair. Left with nothing to do, as Shazza and Jack were doing something in the ship, Alex decided that perhaps she would do forms for awhile. She found a slightly shaded, smooth patch of sand, and stood in the center. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply twice. Find the flame, she thought. In her mind's eye, she could see it. She fed all her rising pain and anguish into it, leaving nothing but the sword. She opened her eyes. There was a hardness, a focus behind them, and her body was suddenly in a state of readiness. She placed her hands together and bowed to the blue sun. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she pulled the sword from the sheath slowly, delicately, without a sound. She brought the sword directly in front of her, tip up, and held it with both hands. She adjusted her posture to the fighter's ready stance. With that, she began to move the sword to the side, slowly. Unfolding the Fan. She whirled it around and down with a snap and a lunge. Closing the Fan. She blocked an imaginary opponent and then swung for a killing stroke. Tiger Follows.  
  
As she moved through them, she knew she was rusty. Apple Blossom Falls. Dragon on his Cloud. Slowly she began to fall into the rhythm. It came faster now, the sword's glint from the sun flickering quickly. She was breathing harder in the atmosphere. The sun beat down on her black clothing and hair. Into the flame. It all went into the flame. Somehow she transcended her body's needs and her breathing slowed again. Back and forth the blade went, gaining speed until it moved in a blur as she spun. Nothing remained except Alex and the sword.  
  
As she reached the final, most complex movement, Dragon Rushes down the Mountain, she ended with a jump kick into the air, and a single shout, signifying the end of it. She then returned to the salute position, breathing heavily. As she sheathed the sword she felt some muscle fatigue, but surprisingly not much. She had enough room in her cubicle back on the darker planet to do them. It calmed her. It took it all away. Now she was harder, like the tempered steel.  
  
But what she didn't know is that as she had finished, someone else had been watching her. Someone who climbed to the recently vacated perch with a parasol and a cigar, and with raised eyebrows said to himself, "How interesting," and took a swig from a bottle of whiskey.  
  
Alex, unaware of her watcher, sheathed the sword and as she did she heard gunshots. Close gunshots, coming from the ship. She ran around to where Shazza and Jack had been and saw a shocked and bloody Shazza move back as the body of a man fell to the deck, and Zeke pointing a gun at him.  
  
"It was just somebody else, just somebody else from the crash!" Jack shouted.  
  
Alex ran up to the lot of them at the ship. "Jesus!" she shouted, "what the fuck did you shoot him for?!"  
  
Apparently Zeke thought it was Riddick. Alex, in her currently unemotional state, just ticked it off as another loss from their weary band. Zeke took it personally, and justifiably so, and insisted on burying the man with the others in the mass grave out beyond the ships. Jack and Paris were both quite shaken up, and Shazza wiped blood off her face. Alex went into the ship's interior to get a little relief from the sun, and the thought came to mind that what would she do, if faced with Riddick? Hopefully he'd be at sword's length. However, she decided that if she did have to deal with him, she'd come off as hardassed as possible. This was a guy from prison, "The Slam," Johns said. Though she didn't trust Johns at all, she did trust the fact that this Riddick was very dangerous and quite possibly very intelligent. Unless she did come off as tough, he could probably tell that she wasn't a killer and hadn't ever been. Though she'd cut up a street pickpocket, she hadn't killed. Didn't know if she could. No, the best way was to come off as tough as nails and hope he couldn't see through to the sometimes nervous and scared Alex of the twentieth century.  
  
Then she heard gunshots again. And shouts. Coming from where Zeke had gone to bury the body.  
  
This time she wasn't alone as she ran towards the scene. In fact, Shazza was twenty feet ahead of her, and reached the canopy only have to pull it aside and reveal that the entire gravesite was drenched in red. As Alex came closer, she skidded to a halt because crouching above the grave was Riddick with a knife in his hand. He stared at Shazza, then at Alex, for a split second, seeming to see right through her. He slowly got up from his crouch, staring at them all the time, then slowly turned and walked away. Then he started running among the mounds.  
  
Suddenly Alex saw Johns came running in from the direction he and the group left from, Carolyn behind him and Imam and the boys trailing her. He ran into the mounds ahead of where Riddick was running, then tripped him and beat him with a collapsible stick, flipping off his goggles in the process. Riddick lay on the ground covering his face and squinting, and Shazza ran up screaming at him, asking what he did to Zeke and kicking him. Carolyn caught up and held her back, with Shazza demanding they kill Riddick. Alex stood off to one side, watching as Johns finally handcuffed Riddick at gunpoint and forced him back to the ship, where they chained him in the cargo hold so that his arms were held out to the sides. Alex stepped outside after watching them chain him, where Carolyn and the others were gathered after Carolyn had the grisly task of searching the grave for Zeke's body, which was mysteriously missing. The suspicious looking hole in the grave had yielded no results either except more blood.  
  
"We should kill him. Fucking kill him. He killed bloody Zeke!" Shazza was yelling with tears streaming down her face. Imam was all for saving him, as he was a religious man. Paris was back and forth, but this was a man after saving his own hide, so he tended to stand with Shazza. Johns remained silent, so did Jack.  
  
Alex watched Carolyn, who strode angrily into the cargo hold where Riddick was. Stepping just inside the main room, she listened in on their conversation.  
  
"Well, do you want to tell me about the sounds? Look, you told Johns you heard something." Carolyn paused, waiting for Riddick, who said nothing. "That's fine. Look, if you don't want to talk to me that's your choice but JUST so you know, there's a debate going on right now as to whether we should just leave you here to die." Acting as if she didn't fear him, she started to walk off when he broke in.  
  
"You mean the whispers."  
  
That got Carolyn's attention. She walked back, cautiously. "What whispers?" she said quietly.  
  
"The ones telling me to go for the sweet spot just to the left of the spine." Alex shivered as she heard Riddick speak. The man had the rumblings of the devil. "Fourth lumbar down." Now Carolyn seemed either frustrated or scared. Maybe both. Alex sensed that somehow Riddick was laughing at them. "The abdominal aorta. It's a metallic taste, human blood. Copperish, if you cut it with peppermint schnaps that goes away of course-"  
  
"Do you want to shock me with the truth now?" interrupted Carolyn. Damn, she was braver than Alex thought. She knew that he was fucking with them.  
  
Riddick slowly moved his head to one side to look at her, eyes without goggles but still in shadow. "All you people as so scared of me. Most days I take that as a compliment, but it ain't me you gotta worry 'bout now." Alex could tell. He was incredibly intelligent. How he became locked away in prison she didn't want to know, but she thought that he'd be a challenge to match minds with.  
  
Carolyn seemed fascinated by him. "Show me your eyes, Riddick."  
  
As he told her to come closer, Alex, also, moved into the ship closer to where the incredibly muscular man was chained. Would those chains hold him, she wondered. As Carolyn moved in, trying to judge how far the chains would allow him to move, Alex put her hand on her sword in case Riddick tried anything. She could see him tensing, it took a fighter to notice it. As soon as Carolyn was close enough to him, like a snake Riddick got up and moved towards her as far as the chains would go, revealing eyes that shone in the light, like a cat's. As he and Carolyn locked gazes for a second, Alex saw that Jack had also joined them in the cargo hold, looking with amazement at Riddick.  
  
He turned to look at Alex and then Jack, who blurted out, "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" So he told her. Crazy kid. But being sent to a prison where you'd never see daylight, that would twist just about anyone.  
  
Jack was smiling as she realized why he'd get a shine job on his eyes, "so you can see in the dark?" she said with a apprehensive grin.  
  
"Exactly," Riddick said with a smile. The smile of someone who knew he had his prey right where he wanted them.  
  
Carolyn didn't want Jack there. "Leave!" she shouted, then at normal volume, "leave." Riddick was unnerving. So completely confident.  
  
"Cute kid," he said as Jack left. Then his gaze turned to Alex in the opposite corner of the dimly lit hold. She faced him, stare for stare, using the flame to remove her fear. It wavered. She saw his eyes move slowly towards her sword then back to her eyes, with a confident half smile. It didn't reach his eyes. It took all of the flame within her, but she hardened her gaze and folded her arms, leaning nonchalantly against the wall next to her. Outwardly relaxed, inwardly every muscle was tense. She allowed her lips to curve upward in an arrogant sort of smirk, barely noticeable. She saw his expression change slightly, oh so slightly, then he looked back at Carolyn. As his gaze had shifted away from her, Alex forced herself to relax slowly and take deep calming breaths. It was such an intense stare. He slowly lowered himself back to the seat he had been in before  
  
"Did I kill a few people? Sure. Did I kill Zeke?" here he hesitated, "No. Ya got the wrong killer."  
  
"He's NOT.in the hole." Carolyn said angrily. "We looked."  
  
"Look deeper," came the answer. 


	5. Treat the lady nicely

Notes: Sorry it takes me awhile, everyone…end of the semester stuff!  I'm thinking of adding a Riddick POV, what do you think?  

Chapter 6

As they walked towards the hole where Zeke had disappeared, Johns tried to convince Carolyn that Riddick had killed Zeke and buried him in the hills, while Carolyn remained convinced that something else had killed him.  Alex didn't know why, but she, too, was more willing to believe Riddick's story that something else, something deeper in the hole, had killed Zeke.  And if that was the case, they could have a lot more problems than one escaped convict. 

The stare Riddick had given her was intense.  She kept coming back to it.  Those eyes and that voice.  Definitely someone who was used to intimidating.  Alex knew that he'd bear watching.  

As Jack blurted out that she would go down the hole, and Carolyn said only she would go, Alex, who had been walking behind Jack, put her hand on Jack's shoulder and walked to catch up with Carolyn.  Shooting Johns a look telling him to back off, she spoke to Carolyn in a low voice.

"You know, Zeke wasn't out there very long.  Whatever killed him, and I don't think it's our chained friend back there, either, acted damn quick." 

Carolyn looked at her, as if she was giving Alex some credibility for the first time.  "He tried to shoot it, too.  We all heard the gunshots.  Still got him."

Alex nodded. "Just…be careful.  None of us know what the fuck is in there.  I could go with you, watch your back."

Carolyn seemed poised to refuse, then reconsidered.  "I would, but…no. The answer's no.  There isn't enough rope, and if it's tight down there, I'll be better off alone.  I'm responsible…"she trailed off, a distant sort of look in her eyes, as if she were remembering something.

"Okay," Alex said.   They had reached the blood-smeared gravesite. 

Carolyn, Imam, and Alex jumped into the hole.  With Imam holding the other end of the rope, Carolyn crouched down and slowly made her way into the hole.   As she went in, no one said anything.  The hole seemed to go pretty deep, as Carolyn descended for a long time.  

"This is fucking stupid.  There's no body in there, Riddick stashed it somewhere," Johns mumbled, as if to ease the tension they all felt.  Shazza seemed to agree with him, but then again Shazza was still barely functioning after Zeke's death.  Alex didn't know what their history was, but it seemed that those two definitely a "couple" of some sort.  Poor Shazza.

Unbidden, the face of the man she loved came to her.  A face she swore she'd never remember, swore that she burned out of her mind.  The eyes, the contours of his face.  He hadn't died of old age while she was gone, but rather, from a hit-and-run car accident.   It was somehow more raw, the taking of a life so young, instead of the end of his years.  That was part of the reason she had agreed to be in the experiment.  She needed an escape, to get away from her grief.  For that long year of preparation, she had seen that face in her dreams.  Then, one day she had decided the only way to relieve the sadness she felt was to burn it away.  That, and not after, was how she had discovered the flame.  To feed it all into the flame.

Though she only remembered the face for less than a second, when she saw Shazza's blank stare, she felt the emotional-physical response of her body that meant she was hovering around the edge.  To mask it, she crouched down as if to look into the hole herself, and allowed herself to clench the one hand the others couldn't see into a fist while she went through her mental exercise.  It was harder, now.  All she wanted to do was leave, get away from these others, turn the grief into anger and then into the cold steel.  Her hand, instead, went to the sword hilt and held it for a moment imagining herself doing the forms. Then, without having betrayed any emotion to the others, she straightened.  Though she wasn't about to let them in past the walls, she felt a kinship to them, the "lost at sea" syndrome she suspected.  That since they were in the same situation together, they had to band together for survival.

As she looked around at the others again, her attention focused on Jack.   The girl did a very convincing job of being a boy.  Alex supposed it might be to keep attention off of her, for there were some seedy characters that would take advantage of any female, even a child.  Alex noted with a small amusement that Jack had somehow attached the knife to her belt, so it would be at hand.  

Suddenly Imam let out a startled grunt, and said, "The rope, it's tighter.  She's pulling on it more and I can't give her much more of it.  Terribly tight…" He seemed, somehow, alarmed.  Alex was, too.  Carolyn knew how much rope there was and wouldn't ask for more unless she really needed it.

Alex bent down near the hole and shouted, "Carolyn! What's going on?!"  No answer.  Alex looked at Imam, surprising herself by being worried.  Johns jumped into the hole, also.  

"It's…getting stronger," said Imam, now struggling to maintain his hold on the rope.  He looked at Alex, "She could not have this much strength.  It is not possible."  Alex, alarmed, went to help Imam with the rope.  Then, there came Carolyn's voice from inside the hole, but very far away.  Imam bent down closer to listen, but neither he nor anyone else could make out what it was.  "Thought I heard something," he said.

Jack, however, straightened from the crouch she was in, her head cocked as if she was listening to something.  She started walking away from the hole, towards the large chimney structures.  As the tension on the rope got stronger and stronger, Johns grabbed onto the rope to help Imam.  Alex clambered out, and asked Jack, "What, what is it?"

"I hear her! I hear Fry!" shouted Jack.  Now Alex could hear it too.  It was coming from the chimneys.  It was Carolyn, screaming that she was inside.  Inside?  The chimneys! They must be hollow, and connected to the hole.  And the sounds that Carolyn was making were desperate.  Alex hesitated for a second.  Did she help them out? Was there much that she could do for Carolyn?  But then she thought of how Carolyn was brave enough to go down there by herself, to take the responsibility.  She was the captain of their little group, and she was deserving of respect and help that Alex could give her.  Alex, who wasn't all that altruistic anymore, could at least recognize it in others, and respect that.  Yes, Carolyn deserved her help.  

"Imam, let the rope go! She's inside these!" Alex shouted, running closer to Jack, who was trying to locate the sound.  After another second, Carolyn screamed again, and this time it came from the chimney closest to them on the left.  She sounded scared.

"Shazza!  Your pick! Quickly now, she's inside! Let go, Imam!"  Alex shouted to the others.  They all came running over and Shazza knocked a hole in the side of the chimney.  Imam and Jack reached their hands inside, trying to get to Carolyn.  As Imam was able to grab her hand and pull her out, Johns grabbed her other hand.  

Carolyn's head emerged, and Johns, angry, asked her, "What were you god damned thinking!?!"

"I heard you, Fry, I heard you first!" said Jack, trying to help out, too.  Imam and Johns brought Carolyn about fifteen feet away from the chimney, the rope still attached.  All of them tried to find out from her what had happened, and what was down there.  

"FUCK!" Carolyn shouted, breathing heavily.  "That was so fucking stupid.  I don't know…what the fuck is in there, but whatever it is it got Zeke and it nearly got ME!"

But as she shouted me, the rope had been pulled by something, violently pulling Carolyn back towards the hole.  She was able to grab onto the sides of the hole, with her body half in, screaming "Get it off me! Get it off me!"  Imam and Johns turned her around to face the hole so more of the rope was exposed, and then Alex, next to Johns, wasn't close enough but she quickly produced one of her arm knives and offered it to Johns, who stared at her for less than a second, then took the knife and cut the rope, which quickly disappeared into the hole.  Johns then glanced at the knife, and gave it back to Alex, hilt first, in five seconds.  

Carolyn, released from the tension on the rope, had fallen on her knees.  "Shit.  Shit!" she gasped, still trying to get her breath controlled.  Alex could see that Carolyn wasn't going to be able to get up herself, so she put out her hand to help her up.  Carolyn took it, and with a great deal of pulling on Alex's part, Carolyn got to her feet, still shaking.  She started walking away from the chimney area, back to the ship.

Alex came up alongside her.  "What the fuck was down there?" Alex asked Carolyn.    
  


"I don't know," she answered, breathing heavily.  Probably more from shock than exertion.  "It was dark down there, and all I could hear were these screeching, or howling noises.  Fuck.  It could have killed me.  I don't even know how many there were.  So stupid…I was so fucking stupid."

"Do you…do you think that they'll come up, come up here?" A small voice asked behind Alex.  Jack had run up to join them, looking shaken herself.

"I don't know," Carolyn said again.  "But I think…that they stayed out of the light.  Maybe if it's light up here, they won't come up here."  Alex thought Carolyn sounded a bit unsure, but a bit more reassuring than she actually felt.  If something was strong enough to pull the rope that hard, and to be intelligent enough to know that Carolyn was on the end of it, then damn, they were facing more problems than no water on this godforsaken rock.  

They had reached the ship, and everyone was again gathered in a group, heads down, each pondering what they had found out.  They were not alone.  Johns stepped forward.  "Look, I don't know about the rest of you, but I think that what was down there is more dangerous than anything we ever considered.  I think that we need to be on our guard all the time, and I think…I think that we should let Riddick be free." 

At this, Shazza and Paris looked up and started shouting at Johns, who put up a hand, and shouted above them, "Just let me finish! Let me finish." They quieted down.  "Look, Riddick's a killer, and I've got the gun and training here, but I'm gonna place bets that none of you others have had real combat experience"

Alex bridled at this, but then again, he did have a point.  Apart from the street toughs on the planet, she hadn't been in anything but hard-core sparring.  

"You're right," Paris said.  "So what do you suggest to prevent our friend there from killing the rest of us, and what are we going to do in the meantime?"

Carolyn, then, had her turn.  "We didn't tell you yet, but we found a deserted settlement.  First-landing geologists, from the look of it.  We also found an emergency skiff."

With those words, those of them who hadn't known suddenly had a look of relief on their faces.  Alex certainly felt some long-forgotten happiness color her face.  Up until now she'd been living by the moment, but the thought of a ship brought back to her the possibility that they would be stranded on this planet with its unknown fauna.  And it dashed that possibility to pieces.  A ship, as long as they had a pilot for it, would get them the hell out of here.  As she looked around, Alex saw the same sort of expression on the rest of their faces, giving them momentary relief from the horror of what they had discovered a few minutes earlier. 

"Right now, it's grounded, and it doesn't have any power," Carolyn added.  "But I think we can use some of the power cells from the crash.  We won't need them here, anyways.  So.  We have a way out.  But we need to be on our guard from these…things.  Whatever they are."

"Back to Riddick," Johns said, quietly.  "If we make a deal with him, he'll stay bought, more or less.  That's his one flaw.  If we say, for example, that we'll let him go his own way after we get out of here, say he died in the crash, then he might just be willing to help us.  Or at least not kill the rest of ya.  I've got the gun.  He can do what I say."  

Shazza, remembering Zeke, spoke up.  "But you don't," and stopped as Johns put a finger to his lips, indicating the section of the ship where Riddick was bound, probably listening to our every word.  She continued, almost whispering, "you don't mean to keep him free, do you?"

"He's a killer, and it's my job to bring him to justice," Johns said.  "That's all you need to know," and he left it at that, insinuating a double cross.  Alex didn't think that was particularly fair, if the man was going to stay bought they should keep up the end of the bargain.  However, she wisely kept her mouth shut, as the majority of the people around her seemed to think it a good idea.  She'd just have to watch her back when the time came that Riddick found out about it. 

Imam spoke up, having said nothing the entire time.  "If you think that this will keep the rest of us safe, then so be it.  We must all work together to get ourselves off of this planet and back to New Mecca."

Carolyn looked around at the group, sighing.  "So we're agreed then?"  As everyone else nodded, the group consensus was to go with it.  Alex felt her heart beat a little faster, as now the man in chains would be released, and that danger she had felt emanating from him earlier could be unleashed on the rest of them.  If he stuck to his deals, though…she trailed off.  Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

"I'll go talk to him," Johns said, going into the ship's hull.  After a few minutes, a gunshot rang out, startling the group who had been standing in silence around the crash.  Jack started to go inside, but Carolyn held her back.  "Don't," she said, "Just not yet."

Five minutes passed.  Ten.  Johns emerged from the ship, and at the look on everyone's expectant faces, nodded.

"Is he in there?" Jack said.

"Yeah.  He'll do it."  Johns answered.

"Okay," Carolyn said.  "Everyone get only what they need from the ship, and meet back here."  She then gave individual orders to get a power cell, oxygen canisters, and other things.  Alex decided it was now or 

never to get the remainder of her things from her case, and made her way into the section of the ship where it was.

As she turned the corner to retrieve the rest of her essentials from her case, Alex stopped dead in her tracks, nostrils flared.  Riddick was at her cryotube, with her case out in front of him, attempting to pry it open.  Shit, she thought.  Shiiiiiiit.  She had stopped far enough away so that he hadn't heard her.  At least she was pretty sure he hadn't heard her, as he hadn't made much of a motion indicating he had.  Which really, could mean anything.  That, however, was HER property and she'd be damned if she'd let Riddick have it.  Which meant facing him down.  She crept soundlessly down towards it, and just as silently drew the sword from the sheath.  Holding it in front of her, crouching, she got closer and closer to Riddick, who curiously enough had begun to take apart the thumbprint identification hardware to hardwire it.  That was going a little too far.  She was close enough now.  Five feet away, directly behind him.  Riddick was bent over the case.  She leveled the sword in offensive position.  She fed any fear she had into the flame.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's not polite to take other people's things?" she spoke, coolly.  Hah! He stiffened into a fighter's crouch without turning around.  The stance of someone prepared to leap at her, instantly.  She noticed the curving metal knife in his hand, ready to strike at her.  He apparently hadn't heard her coming.  After a split second, he turned his head only, and his eyes, shining slightly in the dusky light of the hull saw her.  Something behind those eyes changed as he stared at her, mentally cataloging Alex's voice.  Then he visibly relaxed, confident again, and raised his eyebrows.  He ignored the three feet of gleaming steel that lay leveled at his neck.

"Oh, is this yours?" Riddick asked, in an arrogant and sarcastic tone.  

Damn him!  He wanted to play cute with her, did he?  Alex may have been afraid, but once she had her sword drawn and emotions repressed, she was the confident one.  And his arrogance made her angry.  If he had thought she was any sort of dangerous, he should have known to stay away from her private stash.  Her eyes seemed to freeze into chips of green ice, so cold was her stare at Riddick.  Remember to put him off guard, she told herself.

Her lips curved into a smile but her eyes couldn't be farther from humor.  "You appear to have missed the point," with that, did she notice those shined eyes moving slightly to the sword's tip?  "That," and the sword moved slightly towards the case and back, without Alex's eyes moving from Riddick's, "is mine."  She placed all her emphasis on the last word, still staring at him.  She heard the swordmaster's voice in her head, from long ago, _to lose eye contact with your opponent is to lose any advantage you have.  Watch for movement in the shoulders_.  Though it was her first contact with a dangerous opponent who could very well kill her, Alex's fear of him was in the flame, behind the wall.  

Again, Riddick spoke in that mocking tone of voice.  "There's no need for violence, is there?" Now he was sarcastic.  "Besides, we're all friends now, aren't we?"  He spoke with laughter in his voice.  He still didn't consider her a threat, just weak, like the others.

Alex's smile this time made her seem a naive, innocent schoolgirl, which would have been complete were it not for her eyes.  Her eyes betrayed her anger, all she had was anger, that one more male wouldn't give her any credit.  "Well this one doesn't play well with others," she said.  Then her entire face hardened, giving way to that anger.  "Now, leave," she spat.

Riddick's face lost its joking demeanor and became that of one who uses ruthless violence to get his way.  He wasn't used to being talked to like that.  "And why should I do that?" he growled.    

In response to his change in attitude, the fear welled up and almost pushed through.  Alex before the freeze would have never been capable of facing down a known killer.  Even after, she couldn't ignore the raw power emanating from this man.  Though she was strong from her training, Riddick could probably lift all of her 140 pounds and toss her through the air, easy.  In kilos, said a voice in her mind.  It's kilos now.  She somehow managed to quell any emotion.  What could she say to him?

"Because if you fuck with the thumbprint, then you have to do a voice ID.  If you fuck with that, it releases a poisonous gas.  Like I said.  Mine.  And since we're all 'friends' now", here she used the same laughing inflection that her voice that he had a minute earlier, "that just wouldn't be nice."

The tension, which before you could almost see in the air, lessened.  Riddick laughed, amused.  Alex could not figure out why.  This man was so hard to read.  He relaxed, and stepped away from the case and away from her sword. 

"Now that's an expensive little toy," he rumbled.

"Oh, I've paid for it.  Very expensive," she answered, not willing to tell him what exactly the price had been.  Her life.

Riddick began to walk away.  Waiting until he was what she considered a safe distance away, Alex sheathed her sword.  Riddick heard it, and turned around.

"You sure that's the smartest idea, little girl?" He was still amused.  Not threatening.  Alex couldn't stand it when men didn't think she was a threat.  Or smart.  

Alex smiled girlishly, and with a barely discernible flick of her wrist, brought the knife into her hand.  A neat little trick that she spent weeks perfecting.  He hadn't seen it.  She then brought the hand with the knife up and moved the knife as if she was scolding him.  "Tsk, tsk, this one is no little girl."

She saw the confident demeanor slip for just a second, and then he laughed again.  "I believe that," he said, and walked out of the hold.

Alex felt her nervous energy rush out of her, and leaned against a support beam, shaking.  


	6. Following the Leader

Notes: Review, Review! I may revise Chapters 1 and 2 soon. Does anyone know how to have your file be saved as a word document when you upload but still keep ellipses (.)? I can't figure it out and I don't like how saving as html gives you enormous spaces in between. Nobody replied last time.Riddick POV? Want one?  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Alex gathered her wits and went over to her case. She'd been able to pull off the bluff. It had worked before with someone who had tried to mess with the case, but it was a gamble trying to do that with Riddick. There was no "poisonous gas", just a voiceprint identification after anything was wrong with the thumbprint. The voiceprint wasn't all that hard to hardwire, either. It seemed that he had almost hardwired the thumbprint, so she just pressed the inconspicuous button on the side, and said her name and the command.  
  
"Bennet, Alexandra. Open." The case slowly opened, revealing the remainder of her possessions. She couldn't take any more knives with her, as that would be too much, but she did take a few of the most expensive things. That really had been a lot of money after all the years. Nightshades, "sun"glasses that really had sophisticated nightvision technology which could be used at the push of a button. She hadn't wanted to bring them out before, but definitely didn't want to leave them behind. They had been very useful on the last planet, when she was only out at night, and definitely allowed her to move about with more confidence. Now they might just be only sunglasses. She also took her small kit for cleaning the blades, a handheld computer with her identification info, and a miniscule first aid kit. All of it fit into the pockets in her black vest without looking like anything had been added.  
  
For a moment, she considered her attire. All black-not the wisest choice for constant sun, as she was finding out, especially the long sleeves. But those long sleeves concealed the dagger she had recently flipped out at her wrist. Tricky. The only person she really needed to hide it from already knew it was there. With a sigh, she ripped off the sleeves, revealing pale but toned arms. Around the upper part of her bicep on her right arm was the only luxury she had permitted herself, a thin silver armband which she had seen in a shop somewhere. It never came off, and was always underneath her clothes. It amused her, and also had a function. The disc design, no larger than an inch in diameter, depicted one of the old Chinese characters which meant "flame." Alex bought it because it was pretty, and eerily appropriate. But underneath the disc was an emergency chip that contained the account information where she had the majority of her leftover money held, which could not be traced to her if people looked up Alexandra Bennet. By number only, she was prepared in case something happened. It never hurt to be suspicious, better safe than sorry.  
  
She sighed in appreciation, for she was much cooler, and the lightweight and slim vest was no longer as hot as it had seemed. Her preparations having taken less than ten minutes, she made sure there was nothing too personal in it and then closed the case, and spoke for the voiceprint. "Bennet, Alexandra. Lock."  
  
Alex walked outside and then over to the section where the power cells were, and Shazza tossed her the last miniature oxygen tank. Nodding her thanks, Alex put it on and noticed that they had fixed a rope to the large, heavy power cell and Johns was telling Riddick to pull it. Jack had found some goggles somewhere that looked like the ones Riddick was now wearing, and was looking at the guy with hero-worship in her eyes. Carolyn was the last one to come out of the ship.  
  
"Everyone ready for this?" The rest of them looked grim, but determined. "All right then."  
  
Carolyn led the way towards this settlement the others had found, with the remainder of them following her. Riddick was waiting to be the last in line, and Alex hesitated. Never let an adversary have the advantage of being in your blind spot. However, she felt that for some reason he wasn't going to be a threat, at least not yet. So she was quick to follow Carolyn towards the beginning. She wanted to see this settlement for herself. As she walked, she got out the sunglasses and put them on with relief. After a minute adjustment, the glasses successfully filtered the blue sun's light so that it was much easier to see as they made their way across the dry plain.  
  
The settlement, when they finally reached it, was of a decent size, but looked as if no one had been there in quite some time. The ship though, did not look as bad as Alex had thought when Carolyn first mentioned it. The wings needed patching, and hopefully the power cell would hook up, but other than that.soon they would be off this planet. Imam and his boys went over to the hydroponics setup, saying something about trying to find the water. Riddick brought the power cell over to the open door of the ship, then walked a bit away while the others gathered to survey the ship.  
  
"It's not a star jumper," Shazza said.  
  
"Doesn't need to be," Riddick put in unexpectedly. Everyone looked at him. "Take a two seater like this back up to the Sol-Trec shipping lanes. Stick out a thumb. Bound to get picked up. Ain't that right, Captain?" He said, looking at Johns. Alex wondered exactly how this "escaped convict, murderer" who had introduced himself to Paris earlier knew about shipping lanes.  
  
"Can I have a bit of help here?" Carolyn asked, trying to get the power cell into the ship to hook it up. Jack and Paris helped her carry it in. Riddick went to help, but Johns sent him to look around to find wing- patching material. Jack, after helping Carolyn, went inside one of the buildings to explore.  
  
Alex wandered over to where Imam was just in time to see the well they were clustered around begin to drip water. I'll be damned, she thought, they got it working. She went over there and was able to get a handful of water to drink. Paris pushed her aside and put a container he had found under it to collect some for him and everyone else. While he was doing that, Alex wandered into one of the nearby buildings. This one, like all of them looked, was unlocked.  
  
She took off the glasses and waited a moment to allow her eyes to become adjusted to the dark. Although dusty, it looked like the people who had been there had just disappeared. Everything was left out in the open, as if they'd gone on an outing and were expecting to come back. Not exactly the signature of a group of people who were leaving permanently and taking much of what they had with them. As Alex poked around in some of the shelving units, she saw children's toys, strewn haphazardly, perhaps a quick clean-up job before their mother gave them dinner. She wandered into one of the smaller rooms, which had a bed in it and a quick-fabricated dresser. She pulled out one of the dresser drawers, and coughed as years of dust was released into the air. But the synthetic clothing still remained, neatly folded, as if they were coming back soon. Why hadn't they? What had happened to these people?  
  
Alex went back outside to peer around. One of the larger buildings looked promising, so she went over to it at an angle and started walking around the building to find the entrance. In front of the entrance was Riddick, squatted down and cleaning off a pair of glasses that he had found in the dirt. He didn't see her yet, but got up and tried the doors to the big building. Despite one forceful pull, they wouldn't open. He peered inside for a minute, and then as he turned around, he saw Alex ten feet away.  
  
She couldn't read his expression through those goggles he wore. Well, she might as well talk to him since he was right there, and maybe now he didn't think she was worthless. "Seems like that's the only one that's locked," she said. "One I went into had everything exposed, like they were going to come back and never did." Alex paused, taking in the building. It had heavy doors and walls, and was built more solidly then the rest of the buildings. "None of the other ones are built like this," she mused.  
  
Riddick said nothing, and turned back to face the doors. He held back a piece of canvas to reveal the words "Coring Room." Then, a whistle sounded out from Johns, who had walked over in search of Riddick.  
  
"Missin the party, C'mon boy" Johns said, patting his thigh as if calling a dog.  
  
Alex couldn't help but let out one laugh at his antics. Obviously not smart enough to realize it's not a good idea to antagonize a known killer. Riddick snapped his head to look at her, an angry tense to his body. "Sorry," she said, a wicked smile on her face. She nodded her head to indicate the direction Johns had gone and rolled her eyes. "Idiot."  
  
Riddick, who had still been holding the canvas, let it fall and began to walk off. As the canvas came off of the top of the building, Jack, who had been crouched underneath listening, gave a gasp. Alex's eyebrows rose in surprise. Jack had found a razor somewhere and shaved her head, and still wearing those Riddick look-alike goggles she looked a lot like the real thing. Alex could think of nothing except "and I shall call him Mini-Me!" but restrained her laughter in front of Riddick. It had been a long time since she had laughed.  
  
Jack was frozen with surprise, but Riddick mimicked Johns' southern drawl perfectly and said, "Missin' the party, c'mon," then walked away, a ghost of a smile playing about his lips.  
  
As he left, Jack put her head down in defeat, and muttered, "aw, man!" Obviously she wanted to remain unnoticed.  
  
Alex smiled at her idolization of Riddick. "Come on," she said, and started to walk towards the larger living quarters. A winding noise made her turn around. Apparently, the large globes on the top of the coring room were solar-powered energy sources, and uncovering them started a generator. She filed that away for future notice, to remember what the solar power generators looked like. Alex turned back and walked to the building, then followed Riddick following Johns into the large building.  
  
Everyone else was gathered in there, and someone had found a set of wine glasses that they had poured the water into. Alex went over and picked one up, still amused by Jack. Paris looked at her, surprised by the smile on her face. Alex shook her head, indicating it was nothing.  
  
"All praises to Allah, for his many blessings to us!" said Imam, raising his water as if in a toast. At that, the door slammed and Jack came in, trying to look tough. She took off the goggles and coolly took a glass of water as Johns, Carolyn and everyone else stared at her new "look."  
  
"What?!" she said, and took a sip.  
  
Paris pointed to her smiling, and said, "It's the winner of the look-alike contest."  
  
Alex grinned openly, but placed her fingers to her nose to cover it. She glanced over at Riddick, who revealed nothing, except that the set to his shoulders was relaxed. Those eyes were so hard to read.  
  
As they talked, the predominant theory seemed to be that the people there before were miners or geologists. But Carolyn brought up the question on Alex's mind earlier, asking why they left their ship. As Johns, Paris, and Shazza tried to rationalize it, Riddick interrupted.  
  
"These people didn't leave. Come on. Whatever got Zeke got them. They're all dead." Reminded of Zeke's death, Shazza bowed her head. "You don't really think they left with their clothes on the hooks, photos on the shelves?" He was right. Alex knew he was right. She was pretty sure Carolyn did too. The rest of them just hadn't resigned themselves to the truth yet.  
  
"Maybe they had weight limits," Shazza offered, "You don't know."  
  
"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency," Riddick answered.  
  
"He's fuckin right," Jack added.  
  
"Watch your mouth," Johns told her.  
  
"He's just saying what we're all thinking," Carolyn broke in. Now Alex was sure that Carolyn knew. All those items left out, as if they would return but were stopped. Carolyn looked at Riddick. "So what happened? Where are they?" she asked him.  
  
But before he could answer, Imam came back into the room, flustered. "Has anyone seen the little one? Ali!!?" Alex hadn't noticed that the youngest boy, about Jack's age, wasn't with them.  
  
"Has anyone checked the coring room?" Riddick said ominously.  
  
At that moment they all heard a child's scream. Ali. Coming from the direction of the coring room. They got up and with Imam running towards it, followed him towards the large, heavily built building. Johns shot out the lock of the large doors, and then cautiously pushed them inward. Alex stayed back. She didn't have a good feeling about what they would find. That building was dark. Dark like the inside of a hole. No, she definitely didn't have a good feeling about it. Imam rushed in, calling for Ali, but Johns held him back, motioning for caution as Carolyn prevented Jack from entering. Alex crossed over the threshold, out of the sun, and saw an enormous rig at the center of the room around a hole in the ground. Looked like a drill, or the exit point from a mine of some sort. The ceiling had a large opening and sunlight streamed through it, dimly lighting the space. As Johns and Carolyn looked around cautiously, Johns with gun at the ready, they heard a rustling noise coming from behind two doors.  
  
"Ali?" said Imam, and as he reached his hands towards the doors, they burst open, and what seemed like hundreds of fast-moving, batlike creatures circled out and moved as a flock around the ceiling, emitting shrieking noises. A second later after overcoming her surprise, Carolyn shouted for all of them to get out and as they did, she and Johns closed the doors, leaving Imam inside. A few moments passed until they ceased to hear any rustling or sounds of the creatures, and again they opened the doors, cautiously. Alex flipped out her wrist knife, for the moment more concerned about what was past those doors than Riddick, who stood across from her, watching the people, enjoying the spectacle.  
  
"Imam?" called Johns, and a few seconds later, so did Carolyn. The turbaned man rose up slowly from the ground, staring at what lay beyond the two doors that the creatures had hidden behind. There was no sign of the creatures. Imam crawled over to doors on all fours, and as he peered inside he was startled by a sudden thump. Alex, Carolyn, and Johns moved into the room to see better, to reveal that what had fallen was a mangled corpse wearing the boys clothes. He looked.eaten alive.  
  
Clenching her jaw against nausea, Alex fought the horrified fear within her. Whatever did that could do it to her as well. With a worried sigh, she resheathed her knife and walked out. "Can I go in now? Can I see?" Jack said eagerly.  
  
"No, just.just wait awhile," Alex answered. She didn't want the kid to see what had happened to Ali. It Shazza and Paris looked at her with inquiring expressions, and Alex shook her head slightly. She looked at Riddick, who remained impassive and met her gaze, then turned and walked into the building. Alex walked away from the group a few feet, to touch the sword at her side, protection against this fear.  
  
Eventually Imam and Johns carried out the body, which had been covered with Ali's own turban so that they couldn't see his mangled, fleshless face. They carried it to the hillside, with Imam's other two boys following out of sight. Johns came walking back, and behind him the sound of Islam prayers carried in the wind. They all followed Johns in, each inspecting the coring room on their own. Riddick had actually climbed down a bit into the shaft. Alex joined Shazza, Carolyn, and Johns on top of the rig looking down into the mining shaft. Johns lit one of his flares, and dropped it into the hole. On its way down it illuminated white bone fragments caught on the rocks, and as it hit bottom it revealed skulls from at least a dozen people, bones picked clean. A mass grave for the poor souls there before them. They had hidden here, never to escape. That was why everything had been left out. Alex touched her sword again. She could not let the fear overtake her. She breathed in deeply and fed the fear into the flame, then let it out.  
  
Riddick, on the lower level, peered into the hole below them. "Other buildings weren't secure, so they ran here. Heaviest doors. Thought they'd be safe inside. But they forgot to lock the cellar." It made sense to Alex. But why would the creatures come and attack the original miners? They weren't anywhere to be seen in the sunlight, and it was only in dark places they had found them. With looks among the four of them, Alex and the others came down from the upper level of the rig. Shazza came down first, and after staring at Riddick, threw him her oxygen hookup. It was her form of apology, Alex thought. For distrusting him about Zeke. She kicked it towards him. Alex watched the exchange coming down the stairs, and paused until Shazza left. Riddick picked up the oxygen and held it, staring at it for a moment, then putting it on. Then he looked at Alex. Unreadable behind those black goggles, she was sure his eyes must be burning into her. She walked down the stairs and out of the coring room.  
  
She entered a nearby building after she saw Carolyn walk across the doorway, with a determined stride. Alex followed Carolyn, hearing her mutter, "twenty-two years.twenty-two years". Carolyn made her way to a model of a solar system. Must be this solar system, Alex concluded. Three lightbulbs on a track represented the three suns the planet orbited around. Carolyn moved the track, looking at a small counter, indicating the years. As it clicked to twenty-two, Alex finally looked at the model. The planet that indicated theirs was completely dark. An eclipse.  
  
Those creatures came out in the shadows. With all the light gone.Alex's thought trailed off as a sinking sensation developed in her stomach.  
  
"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Riddick spoke up behind her, to the whole room. Alex turned quickly, not having heard him come up. But he was staring at Carolyn, and the model.  
  
"We have to get the hell out of here," Carolyn said.  
  
Alex couldn't agree with their leader more.  
  
__  
  
Ok there's that next chapter.a bit exposition-y, but sorry, I have to get it out there somehow. Do I spend too much time on integrating Alex into the situation? 


	7. The Lesser of Two Evils?

Notes: Ta-Da! Is this.gasp.a new chapter.in record time after the other was posted? Why yes, yes it is. Enjoy! Comments.PLEASE review! Thanks to all my reviewers! :o)  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Alex found herself staring at the model, at the small globe which represented this planet they were on. Dark. All dark. Those things, those.whatever they were, came out in the dark. Emotions roiled within her, threatening to break through the exterior. She was afraid. People she could handle, it was all like a game. But these creatures, animals, brutal, killers, swarming.those she could not handle well. Ironically enough, she had loved animals before her ordeal. But now, these were unpredictable, and impossible to read like she did with people. Impossible to intimidate.  
  
Yet now could not be the time for a breakdown. If Alex had learned anything, it was that she must, absolutely must, promote a tough exterior. She envisioned the flame, and put a hand to the sword hilt, tracing its exterior almost absently. The sword would protect her. They could only get so close, and then the sword would protect her.  
  
Carolyn straightened, and then muttered something about seeing to the ship. She strode out of the building towards the skiff, Johns close behind her. Alex couldn't shake the feeling that even though he was helping, that man was untrustworthy. She casually followed them at a distance, trying to hear what they were saying.  
  
Johns was trying to get Carolyn to wait on bringing the cells back from the crash site, and when she finally asked him what the fucking problem was, he said, "Maybe I should tell you how Riddick escaped," and motioned inside the ship.  
  
Dammit, Alex thought. She couldn't hear them inside there without coming close enough to be noticed. She walked off a bit further, frustrated. What could he have to tell Carolyn that was so important? She went over to a building and leaned up against the side of it, in a temporary refuge from the sun, always beating down. She closed her eyes, trying to logically suppress her fears which hadn't really gone away. She heard a scuffing in the sand, close by, and opened her eyes with a snap.  
  
Riddick stood not five feet away. Her heart pounded in her chest. He couldn't be willing to make friends with someone who pulled a sword on him, so why was he here? Don't let him see you are afraid. Intimidate, brush him off, her mind screamed. She hardened her gaze, and made ready to flip out the wrist-sheathed knife at a moment's notice. But with him this close, there wasn't a whole lot he could do. He could easily overpower her. Though she was not small of frame and every part of her body was muscle, his powerful build belied a strength that she couldn't come close to matching. The grey tank top he wore, marred only by dust and the oxygen canister he had taken from Shazza, revealed close-up that his arms could probably lift over 250 pounds. He could snap her like a twig.  
  
"Now why is it that everyone else acts afraid of me and you don't?" he said slowly, coming a step closer.  
  
Alex was taken by surprise. Of all the things to say, why wonder if she was afraid of him or not? And whatever she said, somehow he would know the truth behind it. He, too, could read people, and what his effect was on them. No use giving him more information than she was comfortable having him know. She decided to switch the subject. "Well now we've got other things to be afraid of, right?" she said, but hovering around losing control on her emotions. He was too close, if he wanted to he could cut her. He still had that curving metal piece from before, even if he didn't have it out. The key to staying out of trouble was to keep your enemies farther, not closer, to your body. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't draw fast enough to protect herself with the sword before he could get to her. But if she backed off, then he would know she was afraid. She couldn't even touch the sword for reassurance, because then he would know. She inwardly cursed for letting herself get into such a vulnerable position.  
  
He smiled, the smile of a predator who knew something his prey didn't. "Yeah, those things. Who knows what will happen when the lights go out." She thought of his eyes. He would know what would happen because he could see when it was dark.  
  
"By that time, I plan on being on the skiff getting the hell out of here," she blurted out without thinking. Fuck! She was letting her emotions get ahold of her, showing her nervousness, not thinking before she spoke.  
  
"Ah yes," Riddick said confidently, "the skiff." He looked at it, then back to her. "Don't have enough power cells yet though. Not near enough. Don't even know if it will fly. Don't even know if everyone will make it onto that skiff." The last words were said with steel behind them in his voice, but she didn't know what he meant.  
  
"Not everyone?" she questioned him. What were his plans, then?  
  
Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, letting him think that he had more of an advantage. He put a hand on the wall and leaned closer to her. Now she couldn't escape.  
  
"You see, Mr. Johns in there will do whatever he has to, to make sure that I'm brought in, for justice," he said "justice" in a mocking tone. "He'll do whatever he has to because I'm worth twice as much alive, and he'll make sure.that I am."  
  
The gravity of what he said hit Alex like a thunderbolt. She took in a swift breath through her nose, audible enough that Riddick heard it, and with her body language, knew she understood. Johns, passing himself off as a cop, or at least not dispelling that conception, wasn't a cop. He was a merc, bringing Riddick in for the money. A cop, at least, wasn't motivated by greed in everything he did. Mercs had a bad, bad reputation in the streets. They were absolutely ruthless, and if they killed a few innocent people during their lives to get the big payoff, then so be it. They were tolerated because they got the job done, but they were bad news. The fact that he was bringing back Riddick, but making himself out to be the good guy was just to get him into the good graces of the others. He could probably be just as ruthless as Riddick was. If push came to shove, Johns was probably quite capable of killing the others if there was a ghost of a chance that his capture of Riddick was threatened.  
  
"You find out something you didn't know every day," Riddick slowly rumbled, with a smile.  
  
Alex didn't know what to say to that. If it was going to be between Riddick and Johns, something told her she'd be better off with Riddick. He was intelligent, incredibly intelligent, and even though he was dangerous he didn't have an air of a man who would sell someone out. Johns might be a merc, but so far it seemed he had been telling the truth when he said that Riddick would stay bought once he entered a deal. He was waiting for her, waiting for her to defend Johns. Given her past but limited experience with Johns, that was the one thing she was definitely not going to do, merc or no merc.  
  
"Didn't like him anyway," she said, raising her eyes to his. Her heart still pounded in her chest. Was it the right answer? "Mercs aren't any fun," she added, trying to add a confident smile. Whatever it was between Riddick and Johns, she wanted nothing to do with it. But if only one of them was left, she hoped to God it was Riddick because Johns was just untrustworthy. At least from Riddick she got the sense that he just wanted to scare them all, for the power he felt from it. He didn't have a reason to kill them. Did he? Would he kill the rest of them, to get away scott- free? The doubting voice crept quietly into her mind. Don't trust anyone, it said. But if anyone, she did trust Carolyn. She wasn't sure why, but she did. It was something about her. Carolyn would have to know this about Johns.  
  
Riddick seemed surprised by her dismissal of Johns. "Most law-abiding citizens think mercs are the good guys.bringing criminals like me where they belong," he said, a smirk on his face. So he thought she was a wealthy little law-abiding citizen did he? She supposed it was her own fault, playing that bluff about the expensive case. Well, it was about time to dispel him of that little notion. She'd seen mercs streetside more than once, one of them had even bludgeoned a homeless guy almost to death, trying to get information out of him.  
  
"I've seen mercs on the street. Don't give a fuck about anyone else except their payday. Mercs are sometimes worse than." she paused, looking Riddick up and down, "criminals like you. Don't know what kind Johns is, but so far he doesn't impress." Johns seemed helpful, but she couldn't imagine that he found Imam and the boys, Jack, Paris, or Shazza the strong points of the expedition. She decided it was time to end that confrontation, and quickly spun away so she was out of his reach, then started to walk away.  
  
But not without a parting shot. "Oh, and human blood definitely would not taste copperish," she said, turning around, "It has iron in the hemoglobin only. Should've thought of that," and whipped her head around to continue walking. At least her science education would be good for something. Riddick, amused, chuckled at her back.  
  
Alex started to hyperventilate as she walked away. All that fear repressed.but somehow it wasn't as intense as before. Okay, Alex thought to herself, at least now he laughs at you, and wouldn't kill you as fast as if he thought you were siding with Johns.  
  
There wasn't much to do until they decided to go and get the remainder of the power cells, assuming that the hull checks went all right. She heard the ship behind her close the door, meaning Carolyn was starting those checks. Alex decided to explore a bit more, find something to get her mind off that conversation with Riddick. She thought she'd done rather well, but it was still nerve-wracking. She picked the building that they had their water in, and went in to find that all the others besides Riddick, Johns, and Carolyn were there. They all looked at her as she entered.  
  
"Um, Carolyn's checking the ship with the power cell. Looks like she got it connected okay," she said, feeling the need to say something. That seemed to assure them a bit, because they had all been looking a bit down before. Probably remembering the boy's death, and the creatures.  
  
Shazza got up from where she was sitting in a chair, dusting her hands off. "I'm gonna go finish on that Sand Cat some more. If we can get those cells, we'll need it," she said, seeming to look at Alex for approval. Alex nodded, confused slightly over her sudden elevation to leader status. As Shazza left, she concluded that it must be in the absence of Carolyn and Johns. She wasn't quite sure that she liked it, even transiently.  
  
They sat in silence after Shazza left, until Jack broke it, coming over to Alex. "So, why'd you give this to me?" she asked, pulling out the knife Alex gave her earlier. Paris and Imam looked on, curious.  
  
Alex, looking down, thought carefully before answering. The kid was cute, and Alex found warm feelings for her surfacing, even against her vow that never again would she care for someone else. "It's because no matter how small, you should be able to protect yourself," she finally let out. "Against whatever, and whomever. I can show you how to use it, if you want," she said, smiling at the end of it. A real smile. She could help Jack, protect her, against Johns, or Riddick. Jack smiled back, and Alex held out her hand for the knife to show her a few basic moves.  
  
The doors burst open as Shazza ran inside. "You should look outside, the sun, it's." and she trailed off, looking confused and panicked. She motioned for them to come outside, and Alex pushed the proffered knife back at Jack, telling her to keep it secret, for now. As she followed Paris outside, to where Shazza was standing near the sand cat, she followed Shazza's outstretched arm pointing at the horizon. Through the heat waves rising from the ground, she was able to make out the form of something slowly moving upwards.  
  
"Oh God." Alex said. That was no mirage. That was one of the planets that would cause the eclipse. The eclipse was starting, and they didn't even have the power cells for the ship yet. Those creatures.those creatures would come out from wherever they were hiding, and tear them apart. Like the boy. But now was no time for thinking that.  
  
"Hey!" she shouted at Imam's two boys, who were looking awestruck at the sky. "Go get Fry. Now!" They looked at her in surprise, then started running towards the ship, calling "Capitan! Capitan!" Alex resumed her scrutiny of the sky. The planet was moving fast. The boys must have found Carolyn, as she came up behind Alex. All of them, their entire little group, were so small. How many creatures were there on this planet?  
  
"If we need anything from the crash sit I suggest we kick on. That sand cat's solar," Shazza said, running towards the cat and switching it on. It was solar?! Alex thought to herself. This could just not get any better. Hopefully they would reach the site and get back before the eclipse totally covered the planet in darkness. If not.but Alex put that thought out of her mind for now. That planet was moving awfully fast.  
  
The entire group ran to get onto the sand cat. Alex was standing, holding on to the roll bars in the back. Jack yelled, "Where's Riddick?" He was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Leave him! He wouldn't wait for us!" Paris answered. Just at that moment, Riddick jumped onto the sand cat from the roof of a building, landing right in front of Paris, who smiled nervously. "Thought we'd lost you," he said to Riddick, then sliding back down to have a seat on the base of the sand cat.  
  
"Johns!" Shazza called, then started up the vehicle, driving away. They passed Johns walking out of a building, and as he leaped up to get on the sand cat, Riddick grabbed his arm to help him up. The two stared at each other for a second, then Riddick pulled Johns all the way up onto the cat. Though the planet was still climing in the sky, the sun was intense, so Alex pulled out her glasses and put them on, relieving her squinting eyes. As they descended into the canyon where the ripcages of giant animals had been seen before, Alex swung down so she was underneath the roll bars, not sure if they would be able to clear it. They did, but just barely, causing the bones to collapse after they had passed.  
  
Alex saw the crash site in the distance, and shouted to Shazza, "Can't this thing go any faster?!" They were racing the planet's ascent.  
  
"It's as fast as it'll go, we'll get there!" yelled Shazza back.  
  
They approached the part of the ship with the power cells in it and all scrambled off. Alex ripped off her glasses and ran after Carolyn, Riddick, Imam, and Johns into the hold, where they started disconnecting the cells. Alex pulled one out, grunting at the weight but still able to carry it over her shoulder. She followed Riddick, who was carrying two cells, outside, where Shazza had backed up the sand cat as close as she could get it. Alex carefully put the power cell in the bed of it with her remaining strength, and then looked up at the dimming light. The planet's rings began to cover the sun.  
  
Jack tried wiping off the cat's solar generator, which was spinning slower and slower. They all stopped to look as the planet went higher, Shazza muttering as the sandcat's engine totally stopped. Alex felt adrenaline pumping through her veins, from the frantic pace they had ran into the ship, stopped by the awesome sight of the planet beginning to cover the sun. As the light got dimmer, they heard shrieking, and howling, like the creatures in the chimneys. Those chimneys which were not too far away from the ship. The entire planet was alive with the noises.  
  
Suddenly, in the dim light Alex could see the creatures begin to fly out of the chimneys. So many of them, together in a flock.  
  
"How many are there?" asked Johns, walking towards Riddick, who was staring at the chimneys.  
  
Thousands of the dark shapes streamed out of their holes, looking now more like a swarm of angry, incredibly dangerous insects, circling, waiting for enough of them to gather.  
  
Alex faintly heard Riddick whisper, "Beautiful," even he seemed to be in awe of them.  
  
"People!?" came Paris' voice from the other hold of the ship, "just a suggestion, perhaps you should flee!"  
  
It stirred them into action. "Let's go!" shouted Carolyn, running off towards the more protective part of the ship where Paris was. Shazza still tried for a moment to get the sandcat running, but Alex saw her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Come on!" Alex said, pulling her out, as Shazza screamed "Shitttt!" in frustration. Without the sandcat they couldn't bring the cells to the skiff. But right now they had to run.  
  
It was Shazza, Riddick, and Alex further behind the rest, just a few hundred meters ahead of the swarm that was closing fast. "Don't look back!" Alex shouted to Shazza, knowing that behind her was Riddick, and behind him was the swarm.  
  
The swarm flew past the ship. "Get down!" Carolyn yelled at them. As they topped the rise, the three of them jumped and hit the dirt, a second before the swarm passed over them, shrieking. They remained absolutely still, Alex wondering if they could go, if they could outrun the swarm. Ten seconds passed. Alex knew that the swarm would circle back. But Shazza got up and started running towards the ship.  
  
"NO!" screamed Alex, stretching out a hand as if to catch her. But Alex remained where she was, knowing that the swarm would get her too. She could hear Jack yelling at Shazza to stay down, stay there, but then Alex flipped onto her back, as flat as possible, as she heard the swarm come up behind her. It passed over her, but as Alex followed it with her eyes, it caught Shazza only a moment after she had started running. Hundreds of the creatures attacked her, grabbed onto her with what could only be razor- sharp teeth. And then she started screaming. Alex closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of them attacking her, ripping her flesh. And then came the sound of what could only be a body being torn in half. Shazza kept screaming, worse than before, and Alex opened her eyes to see the upper half of Shazza's body being carried into the sky. And then the screaming stopped.  
  
Alex, horrified, kept looking at the sky. The creatures didn't come back. She couldn't move, couldn't do anything except stare with wide eyes at the sky, feeling nothing but pure and utter terror. God, oh god, she thought, that could have been me. Nothing she could do could take away the fear she felt. Suddenly a face came into view and when she focused on it, it was Riddick. He stared at her a moment, then put out his hand. She took it, and he pulled her up, then immediately let go, brushing his hands to get rid of the dirt. She swallowed, watching his back for a moment, and then started to walk quickly towards the others at the ship, who were still staring at the lower half of Shazza, left on the ground.  
  
"Please, don't you think we should go inside?" Paris said softly, holding Jack, "we have to be inside, have to close the door, come on let's go!" he was yelling, pushing Jack ahead of him into the dark hold. Yes, safety inside, close the door. Alex stopped once she got to the ship, when Carolyn looked into her eyes she met them with a glassy gaze, still unable to get past the fear. Alex walked past her and was starting to get into the ship when the three of them heard a new noise, a louder shrieking, coming from the chimneys. And the sound of rocks falling, as if the sides of the chimneys were falling down. They turned around, Riddick stepping away from the ship a bit. Riddick bent his head to remove his goggles, revealing his shined eyes, and looked out towards the chimneys.  
  
"What is it, Riddick? What is it now?" Carolyn asked, the fear in hear voice as well. Alex fumbled in her pocket for the glasses, suddenly remembering the night vision function.  
  
"Like I said," Riddick slowly spoke, "it ain't me you gotta worry about."  
  
Alex put on the glasses and pressed the side button for nightvision with shaking fingers, suddenly seeing everything with a slight green tinge. A momentary flash disturbed her, the final rays from the sun before it was totally covered by the planet. Then she looked towards the chimneys.  
  
"Oh my God." 


	8. Uninvited guests ruin a party

Notes: Be patient, be patient, I'm writing a bit more close together and trying to put Alex into important parts, but I still need to keep a lot of the original dialogue.I'm trying to be really true to the characters as they were portrayed in the movie, but integrate Alex and how she would react to each of them.  
  
Chapter 9  
  
Riddick turned around and saw her with the glasses. "Nightvision?" he asked. She nodded slowly, still watching the creatures come out of the chimneys.  
  
"What? What is it? Is it more of them?!" Carolyn asked the two of them.  
  
Alex turned and hurriedly went into the ship. "Yeah, more of them. And they're a hell of a lot bigger this time. I highly recommend we close this door" She was not going to let herself get torn apart by them. Though the fear still pounded away, she felt that together, they were safer. Inside this ship, at least for awhile. Safer than being outside.  
  
Riddick and Carolyn followed her inside, where the others were waiting. Imam and Johns closed the hull door, shutting out the last fading light from the sun. In the darkness, Johns fumbled around in his pack, and produced a flashlight, which he switched on and gave to Carolyn. Paris brought out a small lighter, and Carolyn used the flashlight to find another one on the floor, which she gave to Johns, then the larger flashlight to Imam.  
  
Jack was muttering to herself. "She should've stayed down. If she'd only have stayed down she'd be okay," she said. "She wouldn't have died." Alex went over and put a hand on Jack's shoulder, pity welling up in her chest for the girl. Jack looked up at her with hollow, scared eyes.  
  
"You remember the boneyard?" Johns asked no one in particular. "These just might be the fuckers that killed every living thing on this planet." Alex agreed, except she was pretty sure that they were, not just might be, what killed everything else. With all of the flashlights being flashed around the night vision glasses picked up too much light to be effective, so she put them away for the moment. They'd be useful later.  
  
"So what are we going to do now?" Jack asked.  
  
Paris, glancing around at the pitiful lights that they held, voiced what everyone else was thinking. "Are these the only lights we have, i-i-is this everything,?!"  
  
"No, there's a cutting torch on the floor here somewhere, I just can't find it" said Carolyn, fumbling around in the dark.  
  
The sounds of the creatures suddenly intensified. "Quiet, please, everyone!" Imam called, putting his head to the hull of the ship to hear better. All of them silently listened to the noises, which almost sounded like the noises dolphins and whales made, the sonar that they used. But these creatures wanted nothing more than to find them and kill them.  
  
"Why do they do that?" Jack whispered, "Make that sound?"  
  
"Perhaps it's the way they see!" Imam guessed, "The sound that-"  
  
He suddenly broke off as a grating metal noise sounded somewhere ahead of them. All of the flashlights swung over that way as they listened to something crawling around on the metal. The metal somewhere inside the ship.  
  
"They're inside," Alex whispered, her hands shaking at her sides. She placed a hand on the sword and drew it slightly out of its sheath in readiness.  
  
"C'mon, Johns," Riddick said casually, "you got the big gauge."  
  
"I'd rather piss glass," Johns retorted, "Why don't you go fuckin check?" But Johns had his gun sight up to his eye, ready to fire.  
  
Paris, who was visibly trembling with fear, burst out, "I'm not staying here another second," and proceeded to walk away from the group with one of the flashlights towards the hull door.  
  
"Paris!" shouted Carolyn, walking towards him. Alex grabbed onto his arm and pushed him against the wall so he couldn't go any farther. Carolyn grabbed the front of his shirt and looked him in the eyes. "You don't know what's out there," she tried to reason with him.  
  
"I know what's in here," he said.  
  
Imam took the crossbow he had been carrying and used it to try and pry open the door opposite from where Paris was standing. He was successful and they all moved into another room quickly. Imam closed the door and secured it on the top, and as he was relaxing against it, a pointed appendage, assumedly one of the creatures, poked through the door not two inches away from going through his shoulder. He shouted in surprise then jumped away from the door. Johns fired a few rounds into the grate above the door, and Riddick, finding the cutting torch, lit it off of Paris' lighter. He started cutting a hole in the hull so they could move to the next compartment, to have a little more protection than the flimsy door. As they moved through, he handed Carolyn the cutting torch and went on ahead. The rest of them worked together to push a large piece of cargo in through the hole, blocking it.  
  
Alex walked over to where Carolyn was trying to find a spot in the hull to burn. She was alone. Alex thought it would be now or never to tell her about Johns.  
  
"Carolyn," she said softly, "think you should know.Johns, he's a merc." But Carolyn just nodded.  
  
"I know," she said, "Riddick told me that."  
  
"Me too," Alex said, nodding. "You know how mercs are, right?"  
  
She nodded, glancing quickly at Johns. "But Johns also told me that Riddick knows how to pilot. That's how he escaped before, killed the pilot and stole the ship."  
  
Alex drew in a breath quickly. Riddick could just as well do the same thing to the rest of them. Alex let out her breath, slowly, thinking. She needed to pick sides sometime. Riddick and Johns were equally capable of killing the rest of them in order to get what they wanted. She respected Carolyn, she was their natural leader even though she might try to deny it. The others.well they weren't defenseless, but no one deserved to die on this planet, by the creatures or by the hand of either man. Alex sighed, then continued. "Look, I don't.I don't know you but I don't know how things are going to go down. I wanted to say that.I'll do my best to back you. No one deserves to die here."  
  
Carolyn took a moment to stare intensely at Alex, and Alex stared right back. "All right," Carolyn whispered.  
  
Carolyn turned back to the wall, holding the cutting torch. Everyone else except Riddick seemed to be all around. "Riddick?" she called?  
  
"Don't stop burning" he said in a measured voice. She gave the cutting torch to Johns to cut a hole in the wall, and took the flashlight to look for Riddick.  
  
"Hassan, where is Hassan?" Imam yelled.  
  
At that moment they all heard a few footsteps on the grate, and then the sound of flesh ripping. Then, came the thud of a very large object landing on the grate, and the loud noises of the creatures. So loud, that they must be in the compartment. They whirled around as they heard heavier footsteps coming towards him, and bringing the flashlights around highlighted Riddick without goggles, who yelled and threw himself to the side as a large animal which could only be one of the things from outside came into the lights, then launched itself up as Johns fired at it.  
  
For a moment there was silence, then the body of the thing fell in front of them and they screamed. It was enormous, easily twice the size of a human, with flaps of skin that must serve as wings. It was a dull grey color, but as they swung the flashlights over it, its skin bubbled and steamed, as if it was being burned.  
  
"It's like the light is scalding it!" Paris exclaimed.  
  
"It hurts them, light actually hurts them," Carolyn agreed. A slight movement of the creature's forearm startled them, and then it stopped. But they didn't have enough time to gloat over the death of one creature, as multiple cries from others sounded close by. Hassan must have been torn apart. Like Shazza, Alex thought, unable to remove the graphic image of before from her mind. She felt her heart start to quicken again, from the fear.  
  
As they finally found a small room which seemed secure from the creatures, they sat on the cargo boxes there and tried to take a breather, and then take stock of what they had to go on.  
  
"So we got one cutting torch, we got two hand lights, gotta be something we can rip outta the crash ship," Carolyn began.  
  
"Spirits," Paris added, "anything over 45 proof burns rather well." But he would have to check how many bottles he had. We have, Alex said to herself. Strangely enough, somehow there was a bond she had formed between the rest of the group. It must have to do with traumatic situations, she thought. But it was no longer an "I". It was a "we". It had snuck up on her, even though she didn't want to care about the others, she still did.  
  
"Okay, Johns, you got some flares," she stared at him, waiting for a response. He nodded, and she went on, "So, maybe we got enough light."  
  
"Enough for fuckin' what?" Johns muttered.  
  
"We stick to the plan," Carolyn said forcefully. "We get the four cells back to the skiff. We're off this rock." Those four cells were heavy, though, Alex remembered. One, at least, was hardly something she could carry all the way from the ship to the settlement.  
  
"Look, I hate to ruin a beautiful theory with ugly fact," Paris put in exactly what Alex was thinking, pacing, "but that sand cat is solar! Won't run at night"  
  
"So we carry the cells!" Carolyn blurted out. "We drag them, whatever it takes."  
  
Jack, who was sitting next to Alex but had curled up into a little ball, said with a shaking voice, "you mean tonight? With all those things still out there?" She sounded on the brink being overwhelmed with fear.  
  
"Now how long can this last," Johns started, "A few hours, day tops?" Idiot! Alex seethed. Obviously hadn't ever taken an even elementary astronomy course.  
  
She stood up and came into the light of the cutting torch. "Look, if it takes twenty two years for two planets to align with three suns to form an eclipse, it's not going to go away in a few hours, or even a few days," she said, possibly the longest speech she'd made. Johns' eyes burned at her. He really did not like her.  
  
Imam spoke up, supporting her. "I got the impression from the model, two planets were moving as one, and it would be a lasting darkness."  
  
Johns still insisted the sun would rise. He wanted them all to sit tight, here in their little hole. The ship, which Alex had first thought was safety, was obviously not enough to protect them from the creatures. "We let the sun come up," he ended.  
  
"I'm sure somebody else said that, locked inside the coring room," Carolyn broke in, glaring at Johns. Alex felt a fierce surge of glee that he got his comeuppance. Johns then tried to use Jack as an excuse to stay in the ship, that "he" would be too scared out in the dark. What bullshit, Alex thought.  
  
"Don't use him like that," Carolyn said angrily.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"As a smoke screen. You deal with your own fear."  
  
"Why don't you shut your fucking mouth for two seconds and let me come up with a plan that doesn't involve mass suicide!" Again, Johns was being so arrogant, trying to take leadership away from Carolyn. The creatures ominously whined outside the room, grating on the metal somewhere on the ship.  
  
"I'm waiting," Carolyn said simply. He didn't answer. "How much you weigh, Johns?" Alex couldn't see where she was going with it. But the tension started building thickly. She reached around to her back, to grasp the hilt of the knife in the sheath there, then slowly slid it out. If Johns wanted to start something he'd have something to slow him down. She did say she'd get Carolyn's back, after all.  
  
"About seventy-nine kilos, to be exa-"  
  
Carolyn broke in. "Cause you're seventy-nine kilos of gutless white meat and that's why you can't think up a better plan," she said, scorn in her voice. Alex could have leaped for joy were it not for Johns leaping out of his seat, pulling out his gun, yelling "Is that fuckin' right?!" Alex stood up, bringing the knife out to the front of her. At the same time, Riddick, who had been standing next to Johns, unexpectedly moved in close to him, gazing intensely at him. Alex couldn't see where his knife was, but knew it had to be there. She didn't think Johns knew about it. Johns moved his gun to nestle underneath Riddick's chin, ready to fire.  
  
"Now where you goin?" Johns asked him. Imam muttered about how this solved nothing.  
  
Riddick, with a tense smile on his face, reached up his hand and pushed up his goggles, then looked at Johns with uncovered eyes that glinted in the light from the cutting torch. Alex heard a tapping sound, and when she quickly found its source, it was Riddick tapping his knife against Johns' groin area. Johns, realizing this, cautiously backed off and sat back down. Riddick kept staring at Johns, and then glanced over at Alex, catching her as she reached behind to sheath the knife she had been holding and sitting down in one smooth movement.  
  
Alex, caught in the moment, suddenly realized that Riddick was unprovoked when he stepped in to prevent Johns from pulling on Carolyn. She smiled, her eyes darting back and forth between Carolyn, trying to comfort a shaking Jack, and Riddick, stepping back out of the light from the cutting torch. He was protecting Carolyn. What else had he told her when he spoke with her about Johns before? Perhaps he respected her the same way that Alex did, or was even admired Carolyn. Alex felt amusement and curiosity, that the convict would go for the strong personality of their captain. Riddick then noticed her smiling and she immediately stopped, not wanting to give him any advantage of seeing that emotion. He was definitely still dangerous, but strangely, Alex felt he was on their side. At least for the moment.  
  
"And you are sure you can get us there," Imam asked Carolyn. That would be a long trek to the settlement, in the dark. The light wouldn't carry very far, whatever they were able to glean from the ship.  
  
"No I can't," she admitted. "But he can," she said, indicating Riddick's large form. He turned, and looked at her in acknowledgement. "And her," Carolyn nodded at a very surprised Alex. Apparently Carolyn hadn't forgotten the nightvision function on her glasses. As the entire rest of the group turned to stare at her, she shrugged her shoulders, then brought out the glasses from her pocket.  
  
"Night vision function," she said cautiously. She really didn't like having to give away one of her secrets, but now everyone knew and she had no other choice. "It's not perfect, though." It wasn't, really, especially if there was a lot of light in one area, then she'd get semi- blinded. She allowed her mind to drift for a second and wondered how Riddick's eyes worked. Looked like a cat's, or dog's, the way they shined. She was still afraid, but the adrenaline from the encounter minutes before kept her going, and they had been relatively safe in the small room. No longer.  
  
"Okay then, let's go." Carolyn said, picking up the cutting torch.  
  
They pushed aside the large cargo blocking the hole, and Carolyn went through, cautiously using the torch to shed light on the dim areas. Alex took a deep breath, preparing for what was to come. No nightvision, yet, if she was so close to the light of the torch. The fear rose within her, but, grasping the sword hilt, she envisioned the flame and put all emotions into it. She freed the sword from its sheath, and, in a fighter's stance, followed the light of the cutting torch. 


	9. Into the night we go

Notes: Review! Review! Pleeeease! I seem to have lost the rest of my readers. Dammit! Oh well, I really appreciate the faithful: abraxis, ivorybrowneyes. You've been wonderful with your comments. Thank you so much! (let's not mention the fact that I'm writing when I should be studying for finals.hmmm)  
  
Chapter 10  
  
They saw no other creatures as they made their way through the ship. All Alex heard were occasional gratings on the metal, but nothing approached the group. As they had stepped outside the relatively safe area, Alex felt the coldness of fear settle in her stomach, but only briefly. With sword in hand, she was able to burn it away. She followed the light, but always kept her eyes on the surroundings. They eventually reached the hull door, and she turned to the side as Carolyn pulled it open. She pulled on the glasses as Carolyn moved the torch around, then went through the door. She jumped down onto the sand, then immediately crouched, sword at the ready, and kept her eyes on the sky. These fuckers probably fly, she thought to herself.  
  
She heard the others jump down after her, and moved off to the side so they could follow Carolyn. If she was too close to the light source, the night vision would blind her. Plus, she hated to admit it but she would rather see what was behind them than ahead. She was no leader, but it was written all over Carolyn. Alex was content to let Carolyn do the leading and back her up. After all, she only recently started thinking of them as a "we" instead of just herself and the others.  
  
She stayed at the back of the group, keeping an eye out for anything moving. She noticed Riddick doing the same thing, but still kept her distance from him. His defense of Carolyn had made her think he was going to go along with the group, but only somewhat. Anything was better than Johns, although he no longer underestimated her as much as before. Johns stayed at the side, covering the front and the side with his gun. She did not notice that both had eyed her in her fighter's stance, and the sword.  
  
Carolyn whispered to stay close, then to wait in a group as she brought the light over to the adjacent cargo hold which they would try to get more light from. "Riddick!" she whispered, motioning for him to come over. Alex remained at the back as Riddick and Johns moved forward. Riddick uncovered his eyes, and looked into the hold for a moment. Alex couldn't see past the glare of the torch.  
  
"Looks clear," he said. Johns moved closer to Riddick, and they started to move into the hold.  
  
In the quiet, one of the creatures shrieked unexpectedly and leaped out from inside the hold, then flew away. Alex's heart was in her throat as she ducked along with everyone else. Again, she could not get over how large the big ones were. This time she got a good look at its mouth, all those razor sharp teeth. But now it was more of an appreciation, a curiosity for the animals. How they evolved, how they sensed things. Holding the sword took away her fear, for the most part. They waited. After a minute, no others had made any movement.  
  
"You said clear!" Johns hissed at Riddick angrily from the ground near the ship where they were both lying.  
  
"I said it looks clear!" murmured Riddick. Sort of a bastard thing to say, Alex thought privately. But true.  
  
"Well, what's it look like now?" Johns asked.  
  
Riddick brought his head up, peered into the hold, and brought it down again. "Looks clear," he said again, a smirk in his voice that Alex could hear.  
  
Everyone got up and followed a cautious Johns and his gun into the cargo hold. After a few minutes of peering down barely-lighted hallways it became apparent that there were no uninvited guests in this part of the ship. Carolyn set the rest of the group to work to find any part of the ship they could scavenge and use for light. Alex, taking off her glasses as there was enough light provided by residual power cells to see by, found herself assigned to help Carolyn and Jack take out the glowing tubes that ran the length of the hold, connected to occasional power supplies. Alex worked fast, thinking of the skiff, that the longer they stayed in one place the more likely it was that the creatures would attack them there. She and Jack carried the tubes to the sled that Imam had constructed from a wall panel, which would hold the power supplies for the tubes, the power cells, Paris' torches, and any flares they found. As they were loading, she heard Riddick tell Carolyn that he would run ten paces ahead of them.  
  
"And check your cuts, these bad boys know our blood now," he ended. With that, Jack looked up from where she was sitting, looking startled. Alex continued to loop the tubes together, but Jack seemed thoughtful. She shined the light from the tubes through her flesh, making it look as if it glowed red. Alex, as she mulled it over, agreed with Riddick, but wouldn't have thought of it herself. These creatures were animals, and once they attacked them, they would have the taste for human blood. Not like there was anything else on the damn planet they could eat. Alex shivered, wishing that they didn't have to go on the long trek from the ship to the settlement with nothing but some lights, a sword, a gun, and a few knives to protect them.  
  
But it was the only way. Alex stood up, finished with the tubing, and picked up the line that would be used to drag the sled with. Staggering at its weight, she barely pulled it over to the entrance, where Riddick, Carolyn, and Paris were gazing into the darkness. The whirring and howling of the creatures never stopped even though they couldn't see them. Imam and the one remaining boy moved to the entrance, Jack hiding behind them.  
  
"Are we actually going to do this?" Paris asked.  
  
Carolyn turned to him, and spoke confidently. "We stay together, we keep the light burning" she said, nodding. "That's all we gotta do to live through this thing." She went back inside, presumably to find Johns, as he was the only one not there. Imam helped Alex drag the sled outside, and the others took up their positions on the sides, looping the tubing around them to keep them in the light. Alex was the only one besides Riddick near enough to the ship to hear Carolyn talking to Johns.  
  
"Look, we're just wasting light here," she said.  
  
"You give him the cells, and a ship," Johns mumbled, "and he'll leave all out there to die. He'll leave all of you." At that, Alex turned to look at Riddick. He must not have noticed her staring because a tightening of his jaw muscle betrayed emotion. She looked away. So he did have feelings. Or was he just worried that there would be a hitch in his plan to kill them all? She couldn't figure him.  
  
"I don't get it, Johns," came Carolyn's voice. "What is so god damned valuable in your life that you're worried about losing? Is there anything at all? Besides your next spike." That startled Alex, his next spike? Realization came suddenly. Johns must be an addict, a hype. Although how a merc became a hype, she'd never know. Most of them were too busy tracking down their quarries. She held a certain disgust for addicts, but also a sympathy. She'd seen people wasting away on the street, all their money gone to pay for drugs. Their weakness, she thought. Although there was a time when she had almost been on the verge of trying something, anything, to make the pain stop. Instead she burned it away, and lost some other emotions besides.  
  
Carolyn came outside from the ship, and after a few minutes Johns slowly followed. Riddick stood impassively looking out into the darkness, and Alex again took out her black glasses and put them on. A slight wind ruffled her short black hair. Jack offered her a loop of tubing near the back of the sled while the others were putting theirs on, and she took it. She placed it in a position which would allow her easy access to her sword, but it still inhibited her movement. They were all prepared.  
  
Riddick started jogging ahead of them, and they quickly followed. The glow of the tubing wasn't enough so that it blinded Alex, so she could see around them. Paris was holding the cutting torch, and the others were holding the ends of the tubing, trying to aim them into the darkness. As they got out of sight from the ship, her heart beat faster and faster. She could see what the others could not, that hundreds of the creatures surrounded them, to break away when the lighted sled approached them but to only gather behind them as they left. Riddick must be seeing the same thing, she realized. It would only make the others more afraid to realize how many of them were out there, so she kept her mouth shut and put one hand on the sword.  
  
After they had been traveling for about fifteen minutes, they slowed their pace, as Imam and Johns were getting tired from dragging the heavy sled. Alex didn't want to slow, she wanted to run to that skiff, but as she wasn't pulling the sled she could see how they could be tired. Carrying one cell even a short distance had made her gain an appreciation for how heavy they were.  
  
They stopped to take a small break, and at that particular moment, the cutting torch in Paris' hands decided to go out. As it did, the light noticeably decreased, and the howls of the creatures sounded again. Near.  
  
"Stay close!" Imam reminded Paris, and he and Johns began pulling the sled again. Paris reached into the sled, pulling out one of his bottles/converted torches, and knocked out one of the flares so it rolled on the ground. Jack saw it, and taking off her looped tubing, called, "Wait!" to the sled-pullers.  
  
A warning sign could have flashed in front of Alex's face as they stopped and Jack proceeded to go outside the circle of light.  
  
"Jack!" Carolyn cried, to warn her. But she still crept towards the torch. They all stopped. Alex looked into the darkness and saw the creatures gathering, preparing to attack. She drew her sword, hoping that if they did she would at least be able to fight some of them off. Prevent them from killing her.  
  
Imam threw off his tubing and ran to Jack, knocking her to the ground just as one of the creatures swept in, barely missing them as they lay flat against the sand. Johns fired into the air, and Carolyn went over to Jack and Imam. Alex remained in ready stance, facing the darkness, at the back of the sled. The creatures hovered just outside the circle, and had backed off a little bit when the gun fired. But they did not seem afraid of the gun.  
  
She heard movement behind her, at the sled. Paris, screaming in hysterics, started to crawl away from the sled.  
  
"Paris!" she called, unwilling to leave the light. But he kept crawling, muttering to himself.  
  
"Paris! Get back here!" Carolyn ordered him, having turned when Alex called the first time. Alex saw the creatures begin to gather around him, cutting him off from the group. She couldn't have gotten him even if she had tried. She whirled around as one of the power supplies for the tubing fell, and sizzled, as Paris dragged it along. Carolyn and Imam crawled after it futilely trying to stop it from disconnecting from the other tubes. But they weren't fast enough. All of the power supplies failed, and the glow slowly faded. Alex started backing up, back towards the sled. She looked around to see Riddick crouched a few feet away from the others, a knife in his hand, looking outwards. The creatures were far away, except near Paris.  
  
Alex tried fumbling around in the bucket on the sled, looking for a flare, knowing what would happen to Paris but unable to stop it. She made the mistake of glancing over there briefly and found her eyes riveted to the spot. They were thick around him, and as he sat on the ground, wounded by a gash, he brought out a flask and took a sip, then spewed it into his lighter's flame. It blinded Alex for a moment, and when her vision returned she could do nothing but stand there, watching in horror as the creatures tore his body apart. Like Shazza, the image burned itself into her brain. Her grip on the sword was loose, the shock of Paris' death threatening those walls.  
  
She barely noticed as Carolyn lit the flare behind her, and the others lit their alcohol torches. She pulled her eyes away from the grisly scene. The rest of them were all right. Riddick walked back towards the sled and stood five feet from her, also looking at what was left of Paris' body.  
  
Carolyn came up behind Riddick, carrying the bright green flare. "Do I even want to know?" she asked. Riddick cocked his head as if considering telling her.  
  
Alex broke in. "No, you really don't," she said, turning towards the sled again to find a torch for herself and shaking her head, trying to remove the images. But Carolyn remained where she was, peering into the darkness. Alex lit the torch from Imam's that was already aflame. There was a sick feeling in her stomach. Disgust. For someone to be torn apart. Ugh. But she clenched her jaw. The night was definitely not over yet. "And miles to go before I sleep," she thought to herself.  
  
She stupidly looked at the torch in her hand, realizing that it was blinding her. She decided to take off the glasses for awhile, in order to have more light surround them. Riddick was already leading them. Jack looked at her take off the glasses.  
  
"Don't you want to see?" she asked.  
  
"Torch blinds me, it's too much light. I'll put them back on in awhile," Alex answered. She smiled tersely at Jack, barely even curling her lips before looking out into the darkness, now more frightened than when she was able to see, but at least they'd have more light around them. The loss of the tubing was a real blow.  
  
They trudged on for what seemed like hours. Carolyn's flare went out, and she grabbed one of the improvised torches for herself. Alex was no longer sure where they were, hoping that Riddick knew where he was going. He had to. He had as much of a desire to get away from these things as any of them. At least, she was pretty sure that he didn't want to die down here.  
  
"Are we getting close?" Jack asked Carolyn.  
  
In reply, she shouted at Johns, Riddick, and Imam. "Can we pick up the pace!?"  
  
Johns threw down his rope and started to angrily walk over to Carolyn, when he saw Imam staring at something on the ground, and stared too. Alex walked over and saw the unmistakable drag marks of the sled in the sand. They had crossed their tracks. Riddick, who could see in the dark, had led them so that they crossed their own tracks. What the hell? What reason would he have to do it, was he going to turn on them? He seemed calm enough, and in full view.  
  
Johns strode over to Riddick, who was crouched ahead of them, looking ahead. "You wanna tell me what the hell's going on?" he asked.  
  
Imam joined him. "Why have we circled? Are we lost?"  
  
"Listen," Riddick started to say.  
  
"Do you even know where we are?!" Imam said firmly.  
  
"Listen!" Riddick shouted, standing. The outburst startled Alex, and everyone else by the looks of it. Riddick always was so controlled, so calm. Perhaps the planet was beginning to weigh on him as well. In the silence, they heard the constant hissing noises of the creatures, moving somewhere around them. As long as they were stopped, Alex put her glasses back on to take a look at where they were.  
  
"Canyon ahead, I circled once to buy some time to think," he continued, again controlled. Alex couldn't figure out what he had to think about, besides getting to the settlement and their ticket out of here.  
  
"I think we should go now," said Imam decisively, glaring into the darkness.  
  
"Oh, I don't know about that," Riddick said, still looking off into the canyon ahead. "That's Death Row up there, especially with the girl bleeding."  
  
Alex quickly looked at Carolyn, and Carolyn looked at her. Neither of them had a trace of blood on them. There was Jack, too, but.Riddick couldn't know about Jack. Alex was sure she was the only one, from that moment so long ago. Just in case, Alex glanced at Jack. She saw no wounds on her, either. She looked back at Riddick as everyone else was looking at her and Carolyn.  
  
"What the fuck you talkin' about, neither of them are cut," Johns asked, angrily.  
  
"Not her. Or her. Her." Riddick turned around and looked straight at Jack. Damn! He had known. It wasn't anyone's business but Jack's if she wanted to travel as a guy, and Alex thought that should be kept a secret. Everyone else hadn't known, and turned around in realization to look at Jack, who was obviously uncomfortable with all those eyes on her. As Alex saw calculating glances from Imam, Carolyn, and Johns as they realized the truth, she looked back at Jack to see her almost on the verge of tears. But Alex still couldn't see her bleeding. Where was the blood from? And then she realized. Oh. OH. Poor Jack, to have to admit to that.  
  
"You gotta be kidding me," Johns drawled with disgust in his voice.  
  
Alex slightly in front of Jack to keep her away from everyone else. Poor kid. That's all she was, a kid, who was already scared. She didn't need to take the blame for the creatures tracking them through the endless night. Alex felt pity rise within her.  
  
"I-I just thought it'd be better if people took me for a guy, I thought they might leave me alone," Jack started blathering.  
  
Carolyn, looking frustrated, started towards her then stopped. "Jesus, Jack!" she said, "why didn't you tell me!" At this Jack crouched down and clutched her chest to her knees, with tears falling down her face.  
  
Carolyn immediately crouched down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, whispering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," as she went to hug her. "Are you really bleeding?" Alex felt a stab of pain at seeing such a caring gesture come from Carolyn. It was something that she could not do, not now, anyways. But for now, she would have to defend Jack from those who would blame her and be angry with her for something she had no control over. Especially Johns, who was looking at Jack with anger and disgust.  
  
"Coulda left me at the ship, Fry, how come I didn't say something sooner?" Jack said dully.  
  
"I knew" Alex said to the others, looking them in the eye in turn, daring them to come down on her for knowing Jack's secret. "It was her choice. And no one deserves to be left here, so don't even say that," she finished, turning to look at Jack while she said the last part. Jack looked up at her with tears in her eyes, but eyes with hope in them, then looked back down at the ground.  
  
Carolyn tried to comfort Jack, to tell her it was okay. As Alex watched Johns carefully, she heard Riddick softly talking to Imam, saying that the creatures had been smelling Jack ever since they left the ship. Though Alex had no intention of leaving Jack behind, she had to admit it was a big problem. The creatures could get scent off of her wherever they went. But she was just a kid. Alex had felt some sort of duty to look out for her, since the very beginning. Jack looked so alone and frightened, emotions that Alex had, too, buried deep within her.  
  
Carolyn stood up. "Look, this is not going to work. We're gonna have to go back," she said, downcast.  
  
"What'd you say?" Johns started, angrily. "You're the one who got us out here in the first place and turned us into sled dogs," he said as he started walking towards her.  
  
"I was, wrong, I admit it, okay, can we just get back to the ship," Carolyn's confident demeanor from before was gone. Alex couldn't figure it out. Yes, Jack was bleeding, but they had made it this far, hadn't they? Or was it that the canyon was so thick with the creatures that they would be more daring than the ones before.  
  
Johns was pacing back and forth. "I don't know, Carolyn, nice breeze, wide- open space I'm starting to enjoy myself out here!" he shouted at her.  
  
Suddenly Carolyn's confidence was back. "What, are you high again?" she sneered, "just listen to yourself Johns." Alex kept looking around them. The creatures weren't to be seen, except farther off in the distance. But if they kept arguing for long, they'd be back.  
  
At that, the controlled façade that Johns had put out until now started to slip. "No, no, you're right, what's to be afraid of! My life's a steaming pile of meaningless shit anyhow, so I say mush on! The canyon's only a couple of meters and then it's skiff city. So why don't you butch up, stuff a cork in this fuckin' kid and let's go." His whole body stance was threatening, Alex was surprised he hadn't reached for his gun yet. Jack started crying again. Alex felt that tension building again, but this time it was much more dangerous in the great outdoors.  
  
"She is the captain!" Imam broke in forcefully, "we should listen to her!"  
  
"Listen to her?" Johns scoffed. "When she was so willing to sacrifice us all!"  
  
What was he talking about!? Alex looked at Carolyn, who was denying what Johns had said.  
  
"During the crash she tried to blow the whole passenger cabin, tried to kill us in our sleep," Johns talked over Carolyn's insistence he shut his mouth. But Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. Carolyn? Tried to kill them? But then she remembered the look on Carolyn's face when she had first met her. The blank look, the look that didn't believe what happened. So that's what had happened. "We are fucking disposable, we're just walking ghosts to you aren't we!?" Johns continued.  
  
Carolyn lunged at him, screaming at him to shut up. Johns easily knocked her to the ground, and scowled at her, as Imam came up to them, shouting to stop. Alex still couldn't believe that Carolyn had done something like that. She who was their leader, now lay on the ground with a look on her face like she was disgusted with herself. Alex was stunned. She had trusted her. And yet, perhaps she had relied on Carolyn a little too much. So easy to accept the secondary role. Carolyn was just another person, fallible as anyone else. But she had taken the leader's role, taken it and protected these people with her.  
  
"Oh, Carolyn," Johns said laughingly, "how much do you weigh now?" As she stayed on the ground, he grabbed a flare and snarled at Imam, "Verdict's in. The light moves forward," moving off onto the hill.  
  
Alex saw Carolyn still laying there in the dirt, and she somehow knew that like anyone else, Carolyn could do things in her life that she regretted. She moved in front of Carolyn and crouched down. "Is that true?"  
  
Carolyn brought her face up from the earth and looked at her eyes. "Yes. It's true. I, I tried to blow the hatch. Save the rest of the ship. Save myself. But Owens, he stopped me." She had tears in her eyes. Tears of self-loathing, perhaps. "I'm sorry," she gasped.  
  
Alex looked at her, considering. Even in the little time they had, Carolyn had changed some, maybe felt a responsibility towards them. She had ordered them. Gone ahead of them into the unknown. Yes, she was sorry. That was enough for Alex, who might never forgive herself for what she had done that long time ago. But she could forgive Carolyn, who had proved herself in other ways. She held out her hand for the other woman to grasp. After a second's hesitation, Carolyn took Alex's hand, and they both stood up and looked out into the darkness. 


	10. Introducing Alex

I'm back!! Almost finished! Plans for a sequel are already in progress.mwa ha ha.I hope you enjoy. Please keep reviewing, even though it appears only TWO people read anymore.oh well. thanks to you both!  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Alex watched Johns as he moved out of sight around a rock, carrying the flare. There was no desire to follow him, just yet. She saw a dangerous glint in his eyes when he found out about Jack. Turning around, she found that everyone was staring at her and at Carolyn. Alex looked at Carolyn, who was still staring at where Johns had been. Carolyn put her head down, and then her body stiffened with what could be resolve. She turned around to face the rest of the group, purpose in her eyes. There was no trace of the self-loathing of before. With one hand grasp from Alex, Carolyn had once again resumed her position as leader. But she was slightly more hesitant.  
  
"All right. We can do this. Let's get moving." She picked up her torch that had fallen onto the ground.  
  
Imam picked up the line from the sled, and Alex, after a glance at the other boy, picked up the line as well. They saw the green light from the flare ahead of them, slowly disappating, and set off to follow it. The sled was heavy, and muscles unused to heavy pulling felt strain. But the muscles were there, and used to endurance. Alex grit her teeth and set to it.  
  
The group pulling the sled came around the rock, to see Johns walking with Riddick ahead of them. They were talking together in low voices, too low for Alex to hear. She was incredibly surprised that of all people, the two of them, were conversing. They hated each other, Alex was sure of that. But they were probably the two strongest among them, she admitted to herself ruefully. Much as she considered herself able-bodied, she would quickly tire in a contest of strength with either of them. A twinge of fear suddenly struck her, apart from the dull and general fear of what was around them. If Riddick and Johns decided to plot together, to perhaps leave the rest of them on this planet, she couldn't fight against both of them. Johns she had alienated because she didn't trust him or like him, and because he had made the enormous mistake of doubting her skills. But with Riddick, she had at least kept the door open.  
  
She remembered Riddick's ploy to see where she stood, before at the settlement. It seemed so long ago. Alex was pretty sure she had surprised him, by his laughter, humorless as it may have been. And he had helped her up, when she was so gripped by terror at the sight of Shazza dying that she couldn't move. Johns she could figure out, mostly. But Riddick continued to be an enigma. He is a killer. The thought came unbidden, but a reality check in this twisted eternal night. Once you kill another human, a part of you changes. He is capable of leaving you here, Alex thought. All of you. She looked around at the group she had found herself a part of. Found herself wanting to protect. What was it about her experience that changed her, pushed down the walls that small bit?  
  
Jack's voice snapped her back to the present. "What are they doin' up there?" she asked Carolyn in a small voice. Alex cursed inwardly for her lack of attention, and glanced around, the nightvision in her glasses hampered by the lights of the torches. As well as she could tell, there were no creatures around them.  
  
"They're talking about the canyon I suppose," Imam mused, "how to get us through." Alex silently disagreed. She was sure that they must be talking about another deal, something that would make sure Johns and Riddick would survive, and if they lost one of the others, no big deal. She tried harder to make out what they were saying with no success.  
  
Alex realized that they must be entering the boneyard, as they made their way towards one of the enormous rib bones from some long-dead creature. Johns and Riddick ducked under it, still talking. Riddick suddenly turned and peered at the rest of the group, then turned back. All Alex could make out was something about "your eye." She was beginning to get a very bad feeling. The look Riddick had turned on them was weighing, considering.  
  
She heard Carolyn come up behind Imam, and urge him to slow down. "Just a little more space between us and them," Carolyn said warily. Wise move, Alex thought. They had to get to the skiff, but perhaps a little more space between them and the two men would make it easier to run if they suddenly turned on them. Alex slowed her pace to match Imam's, feeling grateful for the slight rest for her arms.  
  
Suddenly, Riddick and Johns stopped, and Riddick turned to face Johns. Alex stopped, staring at them, and put her arms out to prevent anyone from walking past her. This could be it. But instead of the two of them advancing on the group pulling the sled, Riddick spun, knocking the flare out of Johns' hand. Shit! Alex screamed inwardly. They're going to kill each other. She knew that their mutual hatred would have to come to a head eventually, but it looked like they weren't going to make some twisted alliance to get out of there. Riddick had grabbed Johns' gun, and as Johns blocked it Riddick fired.  
  
"Leave the sled, let's move!" Carolyn shouted, turning to run in the opposite direction. Alex hesitated for a moment, reluctant to leave the power cells, their ticket out of here. But they all had to get away from the fight, and couldn't pull the sled fast enough. She threw down the rope and started running after the rest of them, hearing shots fired behind her as Carolyn shouted for them to run.  
  
She caught up with the group, illuminated by the meager light they had from the torches. It was enough, she thought, she hoped. Glancing around, she still couldn't see any of the creatures. A brief flash of puzzlement went through her, and then she heard another gunshot and ran a little faster. She didn't know for sure who would come out the best in a fight between them, but if Johns didn't shoot Riddick right away, she had her money on Riddick to win. She gulped. And kill Johns.  
  
She thought they were running towards the ship, but couldn't be sure. She caught up to Carolyn. "Where are we going?!" she gasped. Even with her body, strong from all the martial arts and forms, the low oxygen atmosphere made it feel like she had run a marathon.  
  
"To the ship," Carolyn got out, also breathing heavily. "Which-which way is it?" she asked.  
  
Alex scanned the landscape around them. It looked mostly the same. She wished she would have paid better attention when going through it the first time, but the creatures clustered around them had distracted her. Far in the distance she saw the chimney formations. "That way," she pointed, "I think." Carolyn changed their direction slightly, angling towards them. One last gunshot spurred them on for a few seconds, then the atmosphere took its toll on them.  
  
They slowed and turned around after a few minutes, not hearing any signs of pursuit, nor any more gunshots. Alex looked back at the others, her glasses picking up no trace of the flare's green light behind them. The noises in the night grew more frequent, but she could still see no creatures around them. Not like before.  
  
Carolyn turned in the ship's direction to begin running and screamed in surprise as she ran into Riddick, who had silently gone around them. Even Alex had missed him somehow. She drew her sword carefully, as the group closed, backing away from Riddick, who stood there unconcerned.  
  
"Back to the ship, huh?" He looked at them levelly. "Just huddle together until the lights burn out."  
  
"Get away from us," Carolyn whispered.  
  
"Till you can't see what's eating you!" Riddick continued, "that the big plan?" His voice mocked them. Alex felt the sting of the truth. In the heat of the moment, she had just wanted to get away from the two fighters, who could both kill her, and the rest of them. But now, she realized that two had been whittled down to one. Riddick was left. The lesser of two evils.  
  
"Where is Johns," Imam asked.  
  
Riddick looked at him, into his eyes. "Which half?" he said in a hushed voice. Jack gasped, in front of Alex, and started backing away.  
  
"We're gonna lose everybody out here," Jack said, her voice shaking. She turned around and looked past Alex, back towards where they had come from. To where Johns' body might be lying. The ominous sounds of the creatures came out of the darkness.  
  
"He died fast, and if we have any choice about it that's the way we should all go out," Riddick said, walking towards Jack. His voice seemed softer, somehow, as if he was trying to comfort Jack. She stared into the darkness, tears forming in her eyes. Alex watched as Riddick came to stand behind Jack. "Don't you cry for Johns," he told her, "Don't you dare." He walked off into the dark, back towards the sled, but as he passed Alex he looked her straight in the eye. It was the first time she had locked gazes with him without his goggles on, and she was glad that this time, she had the shaded glasses on to protect her eyes. His gaze was unnerving, shined eyes not withstanding. Her sword was still up, but she was relaxed as she watched him. He passed her and looked away, walking into the darkness, and Alex sheathed her sword. Carolyn walked after him, back towards the power cells on the sled.  
  
She saw Jack bow her head and wipe away the tears from her eyes. It wasn't because she liked Johns, Alex thought, but because everyone was dying on this hunk of rock. Alex was scared too. They had a plan, and now they were minus one of the strong, yet untrustworthy, members of their group. Now the option might be to try and make the skiff without him, without the gun, but how many would make it?  
  
They had reached the power cells, but all of them seemed to have the spirit pulled out of them. Alex went away from the group by herself, as it seemed safe, and she wanted to just be alone with her thoughts. No creatures around, for a while at least. As she went around a stone, she heard Imam suggest that they all pray together. She was glad she had left, then. Praying and Alex did not agree. She squatted and leaned back onto the rock with a sigh, the temporary illusion of some sort of security allowing the urgent need of before to hold off.  
  
Alex lay against the still-warm stone, listening to the night. She couldn't see any creatures around her, but stuck her sword in the loose soil beside her. She thought about the group. Again, she wondered why she had allowed some walls to be pulled down, why she had felt like she belonged with them. A kinship, even, especially to Carolyn and Jack. And Riddick. He was the puzzle to figure out, and try as she might she couldn't find his motivations for acting how he did. Why does a man who is a killer, and acts as if he only wants to scare the rest of them, willing to take them to safety, to work together? She closed her eyes briefly, as her thoughts spun. A footstep caused her to whirl, and then relax as she saw it was Imam coming over to her.  
  
"Do you wish to pray together?" he asked her, coming down to kneel in the sand next to her.  
  
She let out her breath, slightly amused at the irony of the situation. Praying. "You see, God and I don't really get along," she said, smiling. If she smiled then it helped, helped her to not think about the why.  
  
"God is always there for us, God always loves us," he replied simply.  
  
"Yeah, well, God wasn't always there for me. I thought he was, but I was wrong." She had this conversation with herself a million times. She was once strong in her faith. Before.  
  
Imam sighed. "Why is it that you think he was not there for you?" he asked, his dark eyes burning holes in her. She stared at him. He was an honest man. A good man. She looked down. She had not told anyone in this time what had happened to her. Once it sunk in that she could have no revenge, no respite from the frustration she felt, she could do nothing but push it behind her, and just deal with the pain.  
  
Alex looked up at him. It would be sharing the burden, wouldn't it? She bit her lip, considering. Why not, she thought. I might even die on this planet and then who would remember me? A confessional, almost.  
  
"Because I'm three hundred and twenty four years old. Well preserved, don't you think?" she said with a twist to her lips. She saw his surprise when she told him her age. She pulled the sword from the ground and laid it on her knees. As she reverently ran her fingers along the characters on it, taking care not to touch the mysteriously always-sharp edge, she told him her story.  
  
"I was twenty-three, deep in debt. And lost," she broke off, remembering the face once again. She quelled it, and continued with a sigh. "There was an ad, an application, for an experiment. Five hundred thousand dollars to participate in an experiment. One of two people. The experiment involved a year of physical training, followed by one month," she stopped again, taking a deep breath, "one month of an experimental cryotube freeze." She laughed once. "I woke up three hundred years later, still twenty-four, and everything, EVERYTHING I ever knew was gone." She felt the tears forming in her eyes, but reached inside her for the core of steel, and the walls, she knew had to be there. Her emotions under control, she continued. "The long-term experiment that they never told me about. I got the money from those bastards, and since they make all the cryo-equipment in the known worlds they were virtually untouchable" She looked at him for the first time since beginning her story, the bewilderment on his face easy to read.  
  
She didn't know what possessed her to bring down her walls for those few minutes. Perhaps it was the aura of the holy man. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and continued. "All I had to survive was the money, and the skills I had picked up during the training. I found this," she paused, stretching out the sword in front of her. She smiled. "I found this and it is the only thing besides myself I can trust." She sighed. "So now you see how I cannot believe that God was there for me. He took away everything I ever loved and replaced it with a world I cannot hope to be happy in. Now you see why I cannot pray to this God, or any other. God is dead to me, so is everyone else" As she finished she leaned her head back against the rock, then looked over at Imam. His face betrayed an intense sorrow, but she didn't know if it was for her story or her lack of faith.  
  
Imam sighed. "Even though you think he does not care for you, or that he is dead, he is still there, my child." Alex winced at the 'my child', but after a moment considered that it was only natural, for this semi-priest to call her a child. Say what he might, God was not there for her.  
  
"I only wish that he will take from you the pain you have inside," he said, softly, and laid a hand on her shoulder, his brown eyes staring into her green ones. Now she felt her emotions tearing at the wall and tears threatened to form anew, not for her pain or her lack of faith, but for the compassion and the warmth she received from this total stranger. She closed her eyes. No one had touched her in friendship in so long. The emotions welled up, wanting to release her from these walls, to feel happiness and kindness. But she put those under control, too. Don't open up, and it won't hurt later, she told herself. Her hands tightened on the grip of the sword, then relaxed and opened her eyes again.  
  
She smiled briefly, and then whispered, "Thank you," to him. He nodded, satisfied, and then got up, moving over towards where the power cells were on the sled. Alex put her head down, distracted enough for the moment to miss seeing Riddick's form go back behind the rock ten feet away, where he had been silently listening. 


	11. Hope always comes back

Notes: Almost over! Longest chapter yet?? And, if I must say so, Alex kicks ass a lot more in this chapter than any other. Read on! (oh, and I just found out Imam's last boy's name so I include it here, sorry haven't so far)  
  
Chapter 12  
  
The group walked towards the canyon's entrance and stopped, listening to the sounds around them. The whirring and clicking made it seem as if the entire planet were one animal, waiting for them. Riddick had put all of the power cells on a rope from the sled and was dragging them. Alex looked out into the canyon, seeing the hundreds of creatures ahead of them. Back near the boneyard, she had started to feel a little safe with no sign of them. Perhaps that was why she had opened up like that to Imam. Perhaps not. She didn't really know. But now, she brought herself back to the moment. They were surrounded by swift killers that had the advantage of being able to see them somehow. Just keep the light burning, she repeated to herself for the hundredth time. She swung around to the back of them, partly to keep the light from the torches from semi-blinding her, and partly to see if anything was behind them. There wasn't, but she got the feeling that they were somewhere just out of her field of vision.  
  
Riddick was crouched at the head of the group, peering through the canyon ahead. "Only see one way," he said, straightening and pointing with his hand. "That way. It's the only way off this rock."  
  
Alex looked to see where he pointed. Yes, it was the most direct way, taking them through the canyon. As she looked up on the walls she could see movement on the upper levels. She shuddered. Best not to tell the others. She would let Carolyn take the lead, with the torches, and stay near the back. She pulled out her sword, as her torch had run out a few minutes ago.  
  
"Just keep the girl between you," Riddick said, and walked behind them to where the power cells lay. Jack moved closer to Imam and Carolyn. Alex followed Riddick with her eyes as he moved behind her.  
  
"What about the cells?" Imam asked. Alex would have volunteered to help, but she needed her body to be free in case she had to use the sword.  
  
Riddick paused, looked over his shoulder. "I'll take those."  
  
Alex saw Carolyn's head jerk around to stare at Riddick, for a second. That moment that passed between Riddick and Carolyn could have said a thousand things. Alex remained puzzled as to what exactly the connection was between them. But she would never know, not now anyways.  
  
She stood at the ready as the group moved even closer together. Riddick pulled his goggles over his eyes as Alex circled to get one last look at their surroundings.  
  
"Move," he said, softly, the light of the torches reflected in his goggles.  
  
"Are you sure you can keep up?" Carolyn asked him. Alex thought privately that she could help him if he couldn't. If he would let her. Those power cells seemed his, now.  
  
"MOVE!" he shouted, heading off at a run. The rest of the group ran ahead of Riddick, with Alex the closest to him at the back. The light blinded her, slightly, but she kept her eyes above them and to the sides.  
  
Even though she could feel the sword's grip in her hands, her heart pounded from the fear of what was around them. Death Row, Riddick had said, and she definitely would agree. The creatures' noises sounded all around them. Alex heard a fluttering, and looked up ahead in the canyon to see a swarm of them coming towards them, but above.  
  
"Swarm!" she shouted, "Keep moving!" That was the only way for them to get through, to keep moving, otherwise they would be surrounded. Most of the creatures passed above them, but some were close enough to catch on fire from the torches in front. Alex heard Riddick struggling behind her, and looked back to see that he was having to duck away from the flyers, which were not as far away from him because he had no light. He was falling behind. Then, an idea came to her, the flame rising in her mind, and she put the sword into a ready position in front of her. She dropped back directly in front of Riddick and walked quickly. And then the sword began to move. She heard the blade sing as it formed figure eights in front of her, forming a shield of gleaming steel. With every stroke she was calmer and the fear seemed to disappear. She felt life pulsing through her. Her entire body was that of a fighter, a warrior. Imam's son looked back and gasped, for he saw the purpose in her eyes. The sword caught most of the creatures flying past them, and Riddick was able to concentrate on pulling the power cells.  
  
The swarm passed, and as Alex completed the last stroke she felt the power go out of her and the fear return. She stumbled momentarily, then caught herself and strengthened her resolve. She glanced back at Riddick, and he nodded at her in acknowledgement. She nodded back and continued running.  
  
As they turned the next corner, Alex saw a shocking sight in the sky. The creatures were flying into each other, attacking each other, causing great glops of blue blood to fall on their group. As long as they're killing each other they did not notice them down in the canyon. None of the others had noticed, yet. That is until the blood fell onto them. Alex tried unsuccessfully to scrub it off, to brush it off of her armband and skin.  
  
Riddick shouted, "Do not look up!" as he was pulling the cells, but Carolyn stopped briefly to look into the sky. "Do not look up!" he repeated more forcefully.  
  
"They're killing each other," said Carolyn in an awed voice, still standing there. She seemed to be completely absorbed in watching the creatures.  
  
"Come on!" Alex shouted at her as she ran past her, keeping up with the others. She looked upwards again. One of the creatures began to fall from the sky. Alex realized too late that it was falling directly onto Carolyn. She started to move as if to knock her away, but Riddick came up behind Carolyn and pushed her out of the way, the carcass falling not two feet behind them. Alex helped Carolyn up with her free hand, and saw the look in Carolyn's eyes that she could have been crushed beneath the body.  
  
They continued running, bodies falling among them. Imam, in the lead, tried to dodge them as best as he could. The nearness of the creatures in a killing spree spurred them on. Alex remained near the back, but Carolyn had run up front again. As she looked back, she could tell that their pace had taken a toll on Riddick. He was crawling, almost, using his hands as body parts from the creatures dropped all around him. He might be scary as all hell at times, but dammit they needed those cells. They couldn't leave them like before, they had to go all the way. She quickly sheathed her sword, for the moment, and dropped back to help him.  
  
He was looking down, concentrating on his footing, and didn't see her until she grabbed onto the rope. His head snapped up, and as she wrapped the rope around her arm he paused slightly, allowing her to get set. An unspoken agreement to let her help him with the cells passed between them in the heat of the moment. As soon as she had finished getting a grip on it, no more than a few seconds later, he started pulling again and she joined him. She could feel the strain in her already tired muscles at the weight of all four cells, and could not imagine how Riddick could have been dragging these by himself.  
  
Ahead of them she could see that large bones had collapsed into the canyon, blocking their way. Carolyn and Imam slowed to a stop ahead of them, presumably trying to figure out what to do as body parts dropped among them from the fighting above.  
  
"Move! Keep moving!" Riddick shouted, almost in her ear.  
  
He pushed through them, dragging the cells and Alex with him, until they reached the bones. Alex unwrapped her arm and started pulling away the enormous bones on the opposite side of Riddick, trying to clear them. Imam jumped in beside her, desperately trying to make a path while Carolyn held the torches high. Jack tried to help, too. As soon as there was a large enough hole, Riddick went through, dragging the cells alone. Alex stood by and motioned for the others to go through. Carolyn followed Jack, and as Suleiman moved towards the entrance a rustling behind her caused Alex to spin around. One of the creatures, half alive but hidden in the shadows, moved and grabbed Suleiman's ankle. He screamed in pain as its talons cut through his flesh. He dropped the lighter he carried on the ground, as he reached for Imam who tried to pull him over the bone. Alex took out her sword like lightning, and as Carolyn dropped alcohol on the ground, Alex sliced through the creature's hand and it screamed, mostly from the light that flared up.  
  
"Go! Go!" Alex shouted at Imam, who pulled Suleiman up and over the barrier while Alex backed through it, facing the creature with her sword.  
  
Soon after she came through it, she turned around to see Imam and Carolyn attempting to bandage Sulei's ankle, which was bleeding badly and probably had severed muscles. The blood would attract them, the creatures, even more than Jack would. Alex remembered her small first aid kit in her vest, and, shoving her sword in the loose soil, yanked it out. She opened it to find a roll of gauze, which she quickly unrolled and bent down to wrap around the boy's ankle. Imam then wrapped a torn piece of his turban around it, the makeshift bandage still showing fresh blood oozing through.  
  
And then she heard Jack scream.  
  
She whirled her head around to see Jack, about thirty feet away, underneath one of the rib bones which was quickly being shattered by the creature which was on top of it, attempting to break through. Alarm coursed through her, fear for Jack's life suddenly controlling her actions. She struggled to get up and grabbed her sword. But Carolyn was ahead of her and had grabbed the large flashlight in addition to her torch, and suddenly ran at the creature. She held the light close to it, screaming at it to get off of her. Alex couldn't believe how brave Carolyn was, with only the torch as a weapon. She had to help. Everything moved in slow motion.  
  
As Alex scrambled over the bones, she saw the creature crouch, as if in readiness to attack Carolyn. Too slow, too slow, she berated herself. She climbed over the last barrier, to help Carolyn against the creature. Its tail whipped out and knocked the flashlight out of Carolyn's hand. It leaped at her, and as she jumped to get out of the way, Alex was shocked to see that Riddick had intercepted it. He had the creature by its taloned hands, his brute strength the only thing standing between him and those horrible teeth. He was waiting, waiting for the creature to make a mistake. Carolyn helped Jack up and clutched her to her chest, as they silently watched Riddick face off with the creature.  
  
Alex ran up and paused, but then saw a second creature alight behind Riddick. Her eyes widened, taking a split second to realize that there was no way he could defend himself from both. She looked at her sword, and the characters on it seemed almost to glow in the light of the flame, feeding the flame inside herself. Yes, she thought. Yes. She held her sword up quickly in a salute to begin the forms, to an unseen sun. Alex took a short, deep breath, and then leaped over the bone to face this menace.  
  
She kept both eyes on it as she landed like a cat in the sandy soil, crouched with her sword in front. A voice in hear head whispered the names of the forms, she saw them in her minds eye. But now there was the creature. It regarded her for a moment, sounding its sonar, then reached for her with its talons. She lunged forward and spun out of its reach, reaching her blade out in a deadly kiss, and felt it cut the creature's surprisingly thin skin on its belly. A shallow cut, but first blood. It screeched, throwing its head back. As Alex came back to a crouch, regaining her balance, she took the opportunity of the creature's momentary distraction to slice down, onto one of the forearms. The blade cut through it like a hot knife through butter, singing as it moved in the wind, leaving the arm lying on the ground. It moved quickly in response, its T- shaped head snaking towards her, revealing its mouthful of teeth. She jumped back quickly, out of the way. Attack, an inner voice shouted to her. It's the only way. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly stepped forward, slashing the blade from side to side and driving the creature back. It backed up, but overbalanced slightly. Alex saw her opportunity. She moved in close on its blind side, and moved the sword in two quick cuts, slicing through the two protuberances from its mouth, which she was pretty sure was its sonar. The disoriented creature was unable to "see" her, now, and she slashed again at its tender belly, screaming at it. As it recoiled in pain, she moved within killing range of the creature, lifted the blade high, and with all her strength struck at the neck, decapitating it.  
  
Silence. The lifeless body fell to the ground. The flame disappeared. All Alex was left with was her heavy breathing, and the knowledge that she had just killed another living thing. Never, never had she done this. She swallowed, feeling a rush of emotion that she could not control. Revulsion, sadness, and underneath it all a sense of power that disgusted her. She could not move, only stare at the body, the life she had taken. She closed her eyes. Necessity. Necessity. It would have killed you. She repeated it to herself for a minute until the emotions lessened, and she was able to open her eyes. Able to know herself again. She brought the sword tip up, saluted the body of the creature, then wiped its blue blood off the blade on her pants. "I am sorry," she whispered.  
  
She heard Riddick muttering, and was only able to catch the end of it, ".was fucking with." She looked towards the sound to see him snap his head to look at Jack and Carolyn, a primitive glint in his eyes. He stood over the corpse of the first creature, its belly slashed and its neck at an abnormal angle.  
  
She sheathed her sword, and the noise caused him, and the shocked Carolyn and Jack, to look over at her, and the body that lay behind her. As she looked among them, she saw the realization on Riddick's face that he had never even known the second one was there, and that she had killed it. Saved his life, in some respect. But she was too upset with killing the creature to crow over that victory.  
  
The creatures' song sounded above them, bringing them all back to the reality and the frantic pace they had to set to get back to the settlement. The skiff. Safety. Riddick, still watching her, passed by and grabbed the line for the power cells, dragging it again.  
  
They followed Riddick, going over the small hill and descending, the canyon ahead seeming free of creatures. Alex found that just this once, she had hope. Behind her, Suleiman fell, and it took both Imam, Carolyn, and Alex to get him back up. Alex didn't know how much longer he could last, losing that much blood and unable to use his leg.  
  
As they struggled onwards, Jack, slightly ahead of them, put out her hand. Alex, wondering what she was doing, then felt a wet drop fall on her head. She looked up at the sky and the newfound hope in her died. It was raining.  
  
The torches that the others held sizzled as the raindrops got closer together, threatening to put out the torches. Then they would have no light, the flashlight had been shattered back there. As Imam finally picked up Suleiman and carried him, they both realized that it was raining, also. All of her nervous energy drained out of her and her head spun. How could they go on? She dimly heard a short, barking noise in front of her, and then she realized it was Riddick laughing.  
  
He turned around. "So where the hell's your God now?" he asked Imam, the smile fading from his face. The rain intensified. Alex, her hair and clothing becoming soaking wet, saw Imam look up to the sky, a bleak look on his face. God definitely was not with them now, Alex thought. If he had ever been.  
  
Jack and Carolyn clustered together, desperately trying to keep the torches lit in the downpour. The two of them found a small ledge to get the torches out of the rain under, keep them lit, and Alex followed, helping Imam set Suleiman down. She looked around at Riddick, who had climbed up the canyon wall a short way and stood, looking in the direction they had to go. Imam was attempting to re-wrap the bandage while Suleiman gasped in pain. They heard noises of the creatures all around them, waiting.  
  
"Riddick!" Carolyn shouted, "are we close?!"  
  
He was silent, staring into the canyon. Alex crouched next to Imam, looking up at Riddick. He worked his jaw, as if he was conflicted about something. Were they close or weren't they?  
  
"Just tell me that the settlement is right there!!" she screamed through the rain, desperation ringing in her voice. Alex felt almost dead inside. They were at the end of their rope. The creatures breathing was louder, surrounding them. The skiff had to be there, it did.  
  
"We can't make it," Riddick said, barely audible.  
  
"Why not?!" Alex yelled at him.  
  
A strangled noise came from Suleiman behind her, and she spun, to see him being dragged up the canyon wall, the tail of one of the creatures around his neck. Imam screamed after him, but it wouldn't bring him back. He kept crying out words in some language, falling on his knees, and then to his belly, arms outstretched, a man broken. Of the three boys he had brought with him, all were now gone, killed by the creatures. They shrieked above them on the canyon rim.  
  
Alex felt sadness, almost. But there was a part of her that was willing to accept that they would die here. A part that had no hope. She didn't even know that Riddick had jumped down until he shouted to them.  
  
"Hide here!" he said, a few feet away from them. Alex walked over, he was standing in front of a crevice in the rock, moving a large boulder to the side. A crevice that was out of the rain. Jack brushed past her with her sputtering torch and ran into the crevice, illuminating a cave. Alex followed her in, still emotionless, dimly wondering what they would do when they were finished hiding. Would the rain stop? Imam and Carolyn entered behind her, and as they waited for Riddick to follow, they turned around to the sound of the boulder being pushed across the entrance to the cave, blocking their exit.  
  
The only thing that lit the cave was Jack's feeble torch. They looked at each other in the dripping cave, confused. Imam went towards the boulder and tried to push it with no success. Riddick was still outside, Alex thought. Outside with the creatures. Outside with the power cells. She felt her heart plunge. The cells, the cells.  
  
"Why is he still out there?" Jack asked the rest of them. A child's questioning, which none of the adults wanted to answer to. Alex leaned back against the cave wall and sunk down. Riddick could leave them here. Oh God, she started, and then looked up at the ceiling. No, there was no God with them today. They sat in silence. Alex felt numb.  
  
Five minutes later, the ceiling still dripped from the rain, and there wasn't enough alcohol to sustain a flame in Carolyn's torch. Jack poured the remainder into hers, and then squeezed the string to get every last drop out. Imam, still standing at the entrance, looked back at them as they heard the shrieking of the creatures. Close.  
  
Jack sighed. "He's not comin' back, is he?" she said matter-of-factly. Carolyn looked at her over their one flame, and then looked at the rest of them. Imam at the entrance, Alex against the wall. Her eyes said what Alex was afraid to admit. No, he wasn't coming back.  
  
Alex watched the flame. The flame was where she burned her emotions, kept herself. But she couldn't burn these away. Would it hurt when she died? Torn apart by one of those creatures? And would it do any good to fight them off, if it was hopeless. Hopeless.  
  
The flame got lower. With the realization that it was about to go out, all of them stared at it. Their one light, willing it to go on. A noise came from outside, sounding like a creature landing right outside the boulder. Alex moved closer to the torch, as did Imam, so they were all clustered around the paltry flame. It seemed like hours. Would it keep the creatures away? Alex could hear them, sounding their way through, to find them. But there was not enough fuel. The flame went out.  
  
In the dark, Alex heard the sounds outside. She sighed, resigning herself to death. She just hadn't thought it would come this soon.  
  
Hher eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. No, not adjusted. She put her hand in front of her face. She could see her hand! That should not be possible. But indeed, a blue light illuminated her hand. A blue light from above her. She looked up and gasped, hearing similar gasps from her companions. The cavern was tall, and must have extended all the way up the canyon wall. Lining its walls were tiny spots of blue light. Carolyn stood, and Alex followed her, in awe of the light that they were in. Hundreds of spots of light were there. Deep inside, she felt a spark of hope catch, and then begin to burn anew.  
  
Imam, the tallest, reached up towards the nearest lights. When he brought his hand back down, they all clustered around it, to see the outlines of what looked like worms.  
  
"Bioluminesence," Alex whispered, almost afraid that if she shouted, she would wake up and it would all be a dream. She smiled. A real smile. She looked up, and in the eyes of Jack, Carolyn, and Imam, she saw a smile as well. There was hope after all.  
  
"Quick, gather them all!" Carolyn said, reaching back down to fumble for something in the dark. She came back with the empty bottle of alcohol which had served them as a torch. Jack, Imam, and Alex each reached for the tiny worms, as Carolyn started scraping the label off the bottle. They each took their turn putting the glowing things in the bottle. Together, their light was enough to really make a difference. The spark of hope became a burning flame. They could make it.  
  
"I'll climb up the crevice, and I will come back with more light," Carolyn said, resolve in her voice. "I promise. I'll come back." Alex wanted to follow her, so there would at least be two of them in the night. Carolyn seemed to sense what she was thinking, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Stay here, in case they get in," she said, motioning to Alex's sword. Alex understood and nodded, and put her hands together in a brace position on her knee, a stepping stone for Carolyn to get out. Jack and Imam would need protection. If, no when, she corrected herself. When Carolyn got back they would have to be ready to go. Carolyn started climbing up, and then the three of them watched her form disappear at the top of the cave.  
  
They looked at one another. Alex decided that they would need another lantern, just in case.  
  
"Let's make another one," she said to them, spurring them to action. It took longer to find them, but they got every last one of the glowing worms. It only filled the bottle half-way, but it would have to be enough. Alex started scraping the label off of the second bottle, trying to let as much light through as possible.  
  
But the creatures outside did not forget about them. Alex heard a crack against the boulder and dropped the lantern in surprise. It did not break, but Imam picked it up as Alex rose and drew her sword. The cracking continued. The creatures were trying to break through the walls, through the boulders, to get to them. She heard, behind her, Jack freeing the small knife Alex had given her, to stand behind her. Alex squared her shoulders, and waited, listening to the creatures slowly breaking in, illuminated only by the blue light.  
  
She could feel doubt creeping into her mind. What was taking so long? Was Carolyn able to get through. Was Riddick even still there? But the doubt still left the hope, and she tightened her grip on the sword. No, she would not go down without a fight, if the creatures got in. It was different this time, her renewed hope, and her responsibility to protect the others. They would wait.  
  
The seconds ticked by and became agonizing minutes. The noises outside did not stop. She heard Jack breathing heavily, frightened. Alex's doubt turned into fear and started eating at her. But beneath it was the resolve.  
  
They. Were. Coming. Back.  
  
The boulder started moving. Alex found the flame and fed her fears into it, and again prepared to fight these creatures. Behind her, Jack huddled close to Imam. The boulder was pushed out of the way. Alex took a deep breath, and prepared to charge at the first thing that poked its head in that entrance. Something moved in front, and she leaped at it-only to stop herself short as she realized it was Carolyn.  
  
She smiled at Carolyn and put her sword down. "Holy shit, it's good to see you," she said, almost laughing.  
  
Carolyn smiled back, and then moved away from the entrance to allow Riddick to stare into the cave. He was, unbelieveably, smiling. A real smile. Alex jerked her head back. That surprised her more than his appearance there to help them. Her face must have betrayed her astonishment because he raised his eyebrows at her expression.  
  
"Never had a doubt," Jack broke in, a wide grin on her face when Alex turned around. Imam was leaning back against the cave wall, with a look of relief on his face.  
  
"Anyone not ready for this?" Riddick asked mockingly.  
  
"There is my God, Mr. Riddick," Imam got out, looking at him levelly. Perhaps, Alex thought to herself.  
  
Riddick backed away from the cave to allow them to exit. "We're not out of the woods yet!" Carolyn said, looking down the canyon still shrouded in rain.  
  
"So let's get the hell out of here!" Alex retorted. Carolyn shrugged, and then they set off, with Riddick in the lead. They ran as fast as possible, with no power cells to hamper them. Alex wondered what happened. Riddick must have gotten to the settlement. Yet he seemed to have some sort of a lightness to him, a sense that Alex had not gotten from him before. But no time to think of that now, she thought, and dashed it from her mind.  
  
As they rounded a corner, Riddick held out his arms to stop them, and ducked against the side of the canyon. Alex peered out with her glasses to see four creatures directly in their path, fighting amongst each other. But were they distracted enough to not notice them? Riddick slowly rose, and the rest of them followed. He wasn't going to-oh yes, he was going to run right between them while they were distracted. Alex's eyes widened, but Imam reached back to grasp her hand. She saw Riddick move stealthily closer to the creatures, Carolyn, then Jack, then Imam, then herself following. And then she saw the creatures back off from the path for one second.  
  
Hands linked, they ran straight through the middle of them, makeshift lanterns held high. The creatures flew up as they passed to avoid the light, and they started up the steep incline. "Don't stop, don't stop!" Riddick kept saying as they crawled on hands and knees to get up the slippery mud. Riddick pushed Carolyn and Jack to help them up.  
  
"Move!" he shouted after they had crested the hill, "you know the way!"  
  
Alex looked back to see the four creatures return to the spot they had just ran through, and look in their direction. She faced forward and ran, because her life depended on it. She thought she heard Riddick right behind her. The whirring of the creatures was all around her. She could see the lanterns ahead of her, weaving their way towards the skiff, and she caught up with Carolyn, Jack, and Imam. They finally turned the corner of the last building and saw the skiff, lit up with the engines running. As she passed into the bright light she tore off her glasses and stumbled, exhausted, onto the ramp. Carolyn was waving her into the ship, still on the ramp herself.  
  
Turning around, Alex expected to see Riddick behind her, but he was not there.  
  
"Where is he?!" Carolyn gasped, out of breath.  
  
"I don't know, I thought he was behind me," Alex answered her, struggling for breath herself.  
  
"We'll wait for him!" Carolyn said, looking out into the dark.  
  
But Riddick did not come. Carolyn walked off the ramp and to the farthest reaches of the light, listening for him. Alex, Jack, and Imam gathered on the ramp. Riddick still did not come. He can't be dead, Alex thought. He can't be. He was a member of their group as much as Alex was, he just couldn't have succumbed to the planet when the rest of them were there.  
  
"Carolyn," Imam said gently. Carolyn looked back at them, and Imam motioned with his that they should get on the ship, and just leave, shrugging. "Come." But Carolyn turned her head to again look into the night. Waiting.  
  
After a moment, she started backing up, towards the ship. Then a voice came through the night. It was Riddick, screaming. Imam held Jack back on the ramp, but Carolyn ran off with the lantern, towards the sound. Alex shook her head. Foolish, but damn brave. She liked Carolyn and admired her. No way would they leave without her. Alex brought out her sword and went to the edge of the light, putting on her glasses. Now she would be the one to wait for them.  
  
After a few minutes, she heard faintly the sounds Carolyn shouting, "Get up, Get up!" The first thought that came to her mind was that Riddick was alive. But if Carolyn was trying to get him up, then he must be hurt. She had to help. Yes. Help them. The flame fanned to life. They were out there, somewhere close. They would all get out of this alive.  
  
"Stay here!" she said to Jack and Imam. "I've got to help them."  
  
Alex followed Carolyn's yells, and turned the corner to see in the night vision green Carolyn supporting Riddick, trying to get him up. And then she saw the creature fly in out of nowhere, and heard Carolyn gasp. Time froze. Alex saw the creature hovering above her with its pointed tail going through her body. Hovering, stopping, for a moment. Preparing to carry her away. A voice in her shouted. NO! She would not allow Carolyn to die. She could not let her be carried off by the creatures, not when they had taken so many already. Emotions long held back burst through. Save her! Not ever had she felt so compelled. Time moved again, in slow motion, as Alex stirred herself into action.  
  
She ran at top speed in the mud, towards the creature. It couldn't have been that far away but it seemed like an eternity. She lifted her sword. The creature began to pull back, and Carolyn slipped out of Riddick's grasp. Riddick fell to the ground. In that moment when the creature began to pull Carolyn into the air, into the dark, Alex jumped into the air, and struck.  
  
She sliced through the tail, her sword flashing, fire in her eyes burning, and Carolyn's body fell to the ground. 


	12. In the end it doesn't even matter

Notes: Okay, I've kept you in suspense long enough. This is the last chapter, thank you for reading my fanfiction!  
  
Chapter 13 - In the end, it doesn't even matter  
  
As she followed through with the sword, the creature's stump of a tail lashed out at her face as it flew backwards, knocking off her glasses. Everything was black. She saw nothing. The only sounds Alex heard was the thud of Carolyn's body as it hit the ground, and another scream. Alex stopped and regained her balance, her entire body shaking. When the scream stopped as she took a breath, she realized it was herself.  
  
"Not for me!" Alex heard Riddick's voice coming from somewhere off to her right. But Alex could only look down at Carolyn, stunned at what she had done.  
  
Carolyn lay on her back and stared up at the sky, her breath coming quickly. From the pain, Alex thought, it must hurt somewhere. She dropped her sword and collapsed onto her knees next to Carolyn, then grabbed her hand, clasping it with both of her own. Everything would be all right. She had saved her.  
  
"It's all right, Carolyn," she said, softly, smiling as Carolyn's eyes focused on her face. "It's going to be okay."  
  
Carolyn gripped her hand tightly, eyes wild. Then she arched her back and gasped. Only then did Alex look down at Carolyn's body, where the creature had stabbed her. Her mouth went dry. There was three inches of the severed tail sticking out the other side of Carolyn's upper abdomen. It had gone right through her body like paper. Blood now started gushing out of the wound, welling up around the tail. There was no way Carolyn could live through her taking it out. A slow, sickening feeling rose up in her stomach. And then she knew. She knew that Carolyn was not going to make it.  
  
"No," Alex said softly, "No, it will be all right," she denied it, and felt her entire body twist up inside. "I saved you, no, it will be all right!" she said. Carolyn only groaned in response.  
  
Alex felt her face swell, felt tears in her eyes. She blinked, and the tears ran down her face to mingle with the raindrops. "You're going to live, damn it Carolyn. I'm not going to let you die here!" she said forcefully, shouting the last words out. Carolyn led them, and was braver than all of them put together. Alex was the one who deserved to die, not Carolyn. Carolyn had to get them out of here. She had to live, she had sacrificed so much of her own needs before the others.  
  
Carolyn screamed in pain, squeezing Alex's hand with a grip of iron. "God.oh god.it hurts." she murmured, her eyes tightly closed. As if she could ward off the pain. The wound started bleeding more. It must have hit a major blood vessel.  
  
"No, you've got to live," Alex repeated softly, almost sobbing, grasping her hand and staring into Carolyn's face. The walls were gone. That this woman, so unselfish, would die for the rest of them, was too much for the walls. Raw emotion overwhelmed Alex, and tears coursed unhindered down her cheeks. She had not cried so in such a long time. Deep down inside her she knew that in spite of that all, Carolyn would not live.  
  
Carolyn inhaled deeply, a groan coming out of her, and looked down at her own abdomen. She screamed, in pain, in denial, in frustration. And in her eyes, as well, Alex could see her realize that the pain would be too much, this time. Alex squeezed her hand harder. Carolyn looked up at her, a slow insight dawning on her face. "You've got to," she began, but stopped as she coughed violently. When she continued there was blood in her mouth.  
  
"You've got to go. You've got to take care of them, leave me here," she finished, then gritted her teeth and contorted her spine, writhing in pain and moaning.  
  
Alex was shocked. "Me?! No, no you're going to make it, Carolyn Fry, you've got to," she said, panicking. But Carolyn's eyes looked up at her. Eyes of a woman resolved to her end. She knew she was dying, but always the leader. She was still determined to pass on her responsibility. Her body was wracked with the pain from her wound, but with all her effort she pulled herself up, slightly, so she was looking Alex right in the face.  
  
"Take care of them!" she got out through clenched teeth, her blue eyes burning into Alex's green ones, then she fell back down to lie in the mud.  
  
Alex paused, stunned. She didn't want that, not even close. But Carolyn, who gave so much to others, who came back for them, wanted her to do it. The thoughts of Jack and Imam back on the ship, and of Riddick lying somewhere in the dark, flashed through her mind. They needed her. Don't let anyone in, the voice whispered in her mind, and it won't hurt. The walls threatened to come back. But this time, she would have to let them in. To be there for them. The same surging she had felt before, when she knew she had to help Carolyn, compelled her now. "I-I will." It almost killed her that this woman, who seemed to have such a heart and thought for others, that this woman was dying in front of her.  
  
Carolyn started to breathe quickly and shallowly. "You must do it," she gasped, her eyes becoming unfocused. "Leave me!"  
  
Alex leaned in closer, so Carolyn could see her face. "I promise, I will take care of them," she got out, and meant it with every bone in her body.  
  
Carolyn coughed up blood again, and her grip on Alex's hand started to weaken. "I'm cold," she whispered.  
  
The world did not exist for the next few moments, it was only Alex, kneeling beside Carolyn, holding her hand as her breathing got slower and slower. It took an eternity.  
  
Carolyn let out one last breath, and then her eyes glazed over. Her hand started to slip from Alex's grasp, but she held it, and bent over it, in silent prayer to whatever was out there. Give me the strength, she pleaded, the strength. She swallowed, and looked at Carolyn's face one last time. Their leader. And then she sensed something. In the cold rain and mud, she felt the flame burst to life within her. She had promised. She must take care of them. And at the heart of the flame was her, a core of steel. Yes, I can do this, she thought.  
  
She gently laid Carolyn's hand to rest on her chest, and then turned to pick up her sword from the mud. She rose slowly, holding the sword in front of her. "I swear, Carolyn," she said to the body in front of her, "I swear I'll do it." She had a purpose, now. Wiping the tears off of her face, she felt strength running through her. In what was only a minute or two, she had this purpose, this meaning thrust upon her, and yet it fit. She sheathed her sword, and turned, to look for Riddick, one of the ones she had sworn to take care of.  
  
She found him only ten feet away, behind a container that had blocked his view. He had grasped onto the corner of the container and with all his strength struggled to get up, muttering, "not for me." Alex squelched through the mud towards him and when he heard her, he looked up through the curtain of rain. A wild, pained look in his eyes was slowly replaced by recognition. She crouched down beside him  
  
"I cut her down, but," she paused, the emotional anguish threatening to come again, "but it was too late. So now, I'm going to help you instead." He looked at her, sorrow on his face. An unfamiliar emotion on Riddick's hard face. She reached out a hand, and he took it. "Come on," she said, and then breathed in sharply as she took in the numerous cuts on his body. She moved her body so that she could bear him, and groaned as she was able to lift him off the ground, so that they were both standing with Alex under Riddick's arm, Riddick leaning on Alex. Supporting Riddick's massive frame with her body, she walked in the direction of the ship as fast as she could, still aware that there were creatures around them.  
  
They made their way towards the skiff without speaking, looking around in case any other creatures appeared. But none came. None had found them, yet. As they got closer, Riddick's legs gave out on him and he started to fall. Alex braced herself and used all her strength to pull him up again.  
  
"No, Riddick, we've got to keep going. Come on, get up," she told him, staring straight ahead as he looked at her, then grunted with the pain and effort as he got his legs underneath him again and started walking. She could think of nothing but her purpose. Get to the ship. Take care of them. Leave this place.  
  
They staggered into the light from the ship, and a shocked Jack and Imam ran towards them. Imam saw Riddick's cuts and, without a word, went around to Riddick's other side and helped Alex carry him to the ship. Jack looked up at Alex with frightened eyes.  
  
"Is Fry-?" Jack trailed off, leaving it unsaid. Alex nodded, trying not to remember the woman who had died in front of her. Purpose.  
  
"Let's get ready to go," she said. She and Imam eased Riddick onto the bench in the side of the skiff, where he sat, his head resting on his hands. Alex turned and walked to the rear of the ship, looking for some sort of button that would close the ramp. She found the dial, and switched it to "close." Leaning against the back of the ship, she closed her eyes in gratitude as the ramp finally closed on the hellhole planet. We made it. We're alive.  
  
Behind her, she heard signs of movement, and turned to see Riddick make his way over to the pilot seat and drop himself into it. He quickly started switching on the engines, preparing for takeoff. Good thing he was still able to do it, she thought idly, because I would have no idea. She almost laughed, at that. How ironic it would have been to live only to be unable to fly the skiff to safety.  
  
She suddenly became aware of a throbbing pain on her forehead, above her eye, and reached up with her hand to feel it. A shallow cut, from the creature's tail, from her one moment where she thought she would save Carolyn, was all that remained. She wiped away the blood which was starting to drip into her eye, and looked into the cabin. Imam and Jack were sitting on opposite benches towards the back of the skiff. Riddick continued to prepare the engines for flight as rain beat down onto the glass in front of him. Imam pulled out his prayer beads and ran them through his fingers, a pensive look on his face.  
  
"So much prayer to make up for," he said quietly, "I scarcely know where to begin."  
  
Jack looked at Imam, then Alex, then Riddick. "I know where I'd start," she said grimly.  
  
Alex walked over to take a seat on the bench next to Imam in silence, thinking of all those they had left behind. She sighed, and looking down at the floor, put her head onto her hands as the interior and exterior lights came on. Light. They were safe. It would be all right. Riddick could fly them out of here.  
  
The vibration from the engines intensified. They must be almost ready to take off, Alex thought. All she could feel was relief. But then the engines died back down, and as Alex snapped her head up, wondering what was wrong, she saw Riddick switching off the interior and exterior lights.  
  
"What is it?!" she asked urgently.  
  
"Riddick, what are you doing?" said Jack at the same time.  
  
He remained silent. A thousand thoughts rushed through Alex's mind. Something was wrong with the ship. He couldn't get them off the planet. What was he doing?! They heard banging on the metal hull outside. Alex shivered. The creatures must be right outside, getting ready to attack the ship. The scraping sounds continued all around them.  
  
"Can we just get the hell out of here now?!" Jack whispered. Alex had her hand to her sword and started to get up to move towards the entrance at the back. "We can't leave," came Riddick's voice as he peered back at Jack, his eyes shining in the dark of the ship. The sight of a creature landing on the front window startled Alex, and she heard Jack's breath catch, too. Riddick slowly turned his head back to look out the window levelly. "Without saying good night," he finished, pushing the engines to full power in one movement. The impact knocked Alex back into her seat as the ship took off, creatures crashing into the window as they moved into the atmosphere. The blast from the engines must have incinerated the ones behind them, she thought, getting their just desserts. Good night. She felt almost glad, but then she remembered what they left behind.  
  
The small ship made its way out of the planet's atmosphere, and Alex looked forward, through the window, to see the stars. She smiled, a sad, tiny smile, at her first time seeing the view of the stars and planets around them. Jack clambered up front to the seat beside Riddick and strapped herself in.  
  
"Lotta questions, whoever we run into," she said, looking at Riddick. "Could even be a merc ship. So what the hell do we tell them about you?" Jack's seeming innocence sometimes had Alex off guard when she asked smart questions. Alex herself hadn't even thought of that, but it was a good point. Riddick was certainly not a character that would be safe from mercs, or anyone else who wanted to turn him in. She definitely would not be one of those people.  
  
Riddick pondered the question for a moment, then slowly turned to Jack. "Tell them Riddick's dead," he said, staring into her eyes. "He died somewhere on that planet." He turned back to face forward, and glanced at Alex, then Imam in their reflections in the glass. In his eyes, there was something, something she couldn't put a finger on. Something had changed. There was a little more in him that was human. Yes, perhaps the escaped convict, murderer, had died on that planet. But what would happen to him now, she didn't know.  
  
_____  
  
Two months later, Alex stood on the docking platform of the space station. After catching a ride on a shipping vessel, they had finally arrived at a major station, and now they were going their separate ways. Every hour on that ship Alex had thought of her promise. She had talked to Jack and Imam, and they were going with Alex, to a planet yet unknown. Make out some sort of living. But Riddick, she had by some means known, wanted to go away by himself. Her promise had been fulfilled in part by bringing him to the ship in the first place, but he wasn't really the kind that needed taking care of.  
  
Alex stood, Jack and Imam at her sides, as they gathered the items had bought that week for the trip. The announcement came over the speaker system, "All passengers of the Creande, boarding will commence at gate 244." That was their ship.  
  
"Goodbye, Mr. Riddick," Imam said, nodding, then turned to walk towards the boarding ramp in the crowd. Jack smiled up at him shyly, whispered, "Bye, Riddick," then swiftly turned and ran to catch up to Imam.  
  
Alex picked up her small bag, and turned to face Riddick. She had suspected that Carolyn had stopped him from leaving them on that rock of a planet, somehow she had stopped him. And when she did, whatever she did, had put a spark of something new into him. His humanity, perhaps? She did not know. Alex was leaving Riddick as much of a mystery as she had found him.  
  
"Goodbye," she said, looking at his goggles, where she thought his eyes might be.  
  
"Goodbye," he rumbled in return, his face still deadly serious.  
  
Alex nodded, and turned towards the boarding ramp. "Take care," she muttered under her breath. She was sure that he would. She was also sure that this was not the last she would see of Richard B. Riddick. 


End file.
